May 25, 2024
There's a vandal on Manhattan's Upper West Side with an apparent vendetta against pickleball.
Police confirmed reports Friday of a person vandalizing the pickleball courts in Riverside Park. Portable courts are now being used, and removed nightly, after the destructive work of an unknown assailant.
The damage had reportedly cose nearly $2,500.
The West Side Rag, which first reported the confusing [sic] crime, said the courts on the lower level of the park were hit three times in less than a week, and that several nets were cut up and stuffed into a trash can.
City crews are working with the NYPD to try to figure out who is behind the park prank.
Pickleball players have reportedly said they saw a man dismantling the nets, but he took off when they confronted him. The next day, nets and poles vanished — with the poles later found in a garbage bag.