The squash court at Hamilton Fish Park has been demolished

Photos by Stacie Joy

A reader tipped us off to the current state of the public squash court at Hamilton Fish Park along Pitt and East Houston.

The court, located on one of Hamilton Fish Park's handball courts, is now an assortment of barricades surrounding a pile of supports that once kept the glass in place here.

The court arrived to great fanfare in the spring of 2018, a debut that garnered plenty of press attention, such as in Vogue. 

We're bringing squash outdoors! Check out the @Public_Squash Court at Hamilton Fish Park, the first of its kind in the world! It's FREE to use and now open to the public. https://t.co/cIohG6a9eu pic.twitter.com/5qHPanCa5H

— NYC Parks (@NYCParks) April 17, 2018

This was the initiative of the Public Squash Foundation, which aims to offer free access to squash in public places. 

Per press materials at the time: "The inaugural all-glass court, manufactured by ASB Squash, is modeled on the type used at Professional Squash Association World Tour events, as well as the World Squash Federation World Championships and the Commonwealth Games. However, it has been modified for outdoor usage. The new court, at Hamilton Fish Park on the Lower East Side, was officially opened by New York City Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver."

By spring 2019, someone had vandalized the court, shattering a glass section. There were efforts to raise money for repairs...

 

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By the spring of 2021, the court was still out of commission...

This is the outdoor squash court at Hamilton Fish Park, Manhattan, New York
It is currently closed for repairs, and they are looking for donations.https://t.co/k8IXzYp382

No. 29 in my beautiful squash courts series.⁠

⁠#Squash⁠#BeautifulSquashCourt pic.twitter.com/T6dRiO1zna

— Phillip Marlowe: BetterSquash (@bettersquash) April 4, 2021

And nearly four years of "closed for repairs" status, we're told that Parks employees recently removed the remaining glass walls... and that the squash court will not be replaced.

Make a splash: Hamilton Fish Pool reopens Wednesday

[EVG photo at Hamilton Fish Pool]

This summer, the city is only reopening 15 public pools via a phased-in schedule. On Wednesday, Hamilton Fish Pool — the only one servicing this area — will open for a limited month-long run over on Pitt and East Houston.

Here are details via the Parks Department website:

• Pool hours will remain the same: 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., and 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. Sessions may be split further at the discretion of the pool managers to accommodate more patrons.

• All pool patrons will be required to wear a face covering to enter the pool facility. Face coverings must be worn in locker rooms, bathrooms, and on the pool deck. They are not to be worn in the water.

• Please maintain at least six feet of social distance, except between members of the same household. If a pool reaches capacity, we may provide patrons with a time of day to return to the line.

• During general swim hours, aquatic programs including Lap Swim, Learn to Swim, Senior Splash & Swim, and Water Exercise classes have been cancelled for the summer.

The pool closes for the season on Sept. 7.

The Dry Dock Pool on 10th Street and Avenue D and the Tompkins Square Park mini pool will not open this summer.

There's now a public squash court on the Lower East Side

[Photo by @daniel.avila via Instagram]

In case you missed this announcement yesterday by the NYC Parks Department ... The city's (world's?) first outdoor public squash court debuted yesterday at Hamilton Fish Park, on Pitt Street between East Houston and Stanton.

Here are the guidelines via the NYC Parks website:

The public squash court is free to use, and is available for play on a first-come, first-served basis, except when the court has scheduled programming. The court is located on one of four of Hamilton Fish Park’s handball courts (the other courts remain available for handball use).

The court is for squash play only. Please bring your own equipment, and limit play to one hour. Goggles are recommended. Please do not wear open-toed shoes or flip-flops on the court.

NO FLIP-FLOPS!

Anyway, this isn't permanent — for now it's on a six-month trial basis, up through Oct. 18.

The idea for this emerged in late 2015 ... when a group of friends formed the Public Squash Foundation to help make the game more accessible to the public. (This Bloomberg piece has more background. And here's the Public Squash website.)

The court also has its own Instagram account...

#done opening 4.17.18

A post shared by Public Squash (@public_squash) on Apr 13, 2018 at 2:07pm PDT