Two beloved tennis coaches have unexpectedly lost their permits to teach lessons at Brooklyn courts after being outbid by tens of thousands of dollars, outraging their supporters.
Now, hundreds of the coaches’ students are pushing the parks department to reform the blind-bid process, which they say doesn’t sufficiently take community ties and tenure into account. The dispute highlights the fierce competition for access to the city’s limited public tennis courts.
Frances Ferdinand helped restore the Jackie Robinson courts in Bed-Stuy, where she’s coached since 2019. She bid $8,700 for a new five-year contract. The winning bid was $44,000. Eric Jordan has coached at the Lincoln Terrace courts in Brownsville since 1999, earning him a reputation as an ambassador of tennis to the Black community. He bid $36,000 for a new five-year contract. The winning bid was $66,000. The winner of both permits was Omar Durrani, a tennis coach launching a major expansion of his coaching business. Durrani also won a bid at Astoria Park in Queens for $110,000.
“A lot of people in the community are feeling like our public spaces are for sale. It doesn’t make sense that they’re not considering the whole package, that they only go with the highest bidder,” said Ferdinand, who coached at Jackie Robinson for five years and helped restore the courts. “It feels like another form of gentrification.”
A local activist is planning a rally for the two coaches at Jackie Robinson Park on Saturday. The controversy has taken an ugly turn, with supporters of Ferdinand and Jordan likening Durrani’s “Love All Tennis” coaching operation – which employs two other coaches – to a chain store pushing out a mom-and-pop shop. City Councilmember Chi Ossé shared a video on social media in support of Ferdinand, who had four coaches working for her.
“Our neighbor’s life work is being stolen out from under her,” Ossé said.
Durrani’s critics were uncomfortable with the amount of money he’d spent for the permits, and suspected he had a corporate backer – an allegation Durrani adamantly denied.
Durrani has been a coach since 2017, working at Prospect Park and McCarren Park’s tennis courts.
“Throughout these years when I was teaching tennis lessons, I’ve been saving and saving,” Durrani said. “A lot of coaches know this in the industry, eventually they want to have their own court and I’m very happy that New York gave me this opportunity.”
While tennis has historically been associated with the wealthy, it experienced a pandemic-era boom that expanded its appeal. Permits to play on tennis courts at public parks across the five boroughs cost $100 a year.
The Lincoln Terrace tennis courts.
Ramsey Khalifeh
At Jackie Robinson, Ferdinand said Durrani ripped down her signs when he started lessons at the courts. Durrani, who is from Afghanistan, said a man with Ferdinand had threatened him and made prejudiced insults. Ferdinand said it was likely a community member who yelled at Durrani, and that she was not involved.
Durrani said the rally opposing his takeover of the courts “came like a surprise.” He recalled Jordan congratulating him on winning the bid.
And Durrani scoffed at the idea that he’s not from the community.
“I have one daughter that’s 2 years old and we live in a one-bedroom house in Bed-Stuy,” he said, pointing to the address on his driver’s license.
The rally for the ousted coaches comes amid growing alarm over decades of cuts to city parks. Mayor Eric Adams recently called for a roughly $55 million cut to the parks department’s budget for the next fiscal year starting in July. James McDougal, the activist organizing the rally, saw a connection between the big money Durrani spent and the parks department’s strained budget. McDougal said his son had taken tennis lessons with Jordan and eventually became a ranked player.
Eric Jordan has coached at the Lincoln Terrace courts in Brownsville since 1999.
“That court means a lot to the community. Without somebody there who really cares like Frances or Eric, those programs won’t be there anymore because this guy’s all about money,” McDougal said.
A flier for Saturday’s rally includes Jordan and McDougal’s contact information and lists some of the demands from the coaches and their supporters. Organizers say there should be “no highest bidder” for coaching permits, “no corporate takeover” and a requirement that coaches “must have community ties.” A petition in support of Ferdinand has more than 1,000 signatures. Jordan’s backers have sent letters to the parks department urging the restoration of his permit.
Applications for exclusive permits to coach on specific courts include language about the value of applicants who “cooperate” and “support” the local community. But a parks department spokesperson said they are required to award the permit to the highest bidder who is “responsible and responsive.” The parks department caps private lessons at $70 per hour.
Jordan said he’d been friendly with Durrani at one point, and added that he’d let Durrani teach some lessons at Lincoln, though he didn’t have the permit at the time. He said Durrani’s bid felt like a friend having an affair with his wife.
“What you’ve done, it’s like a snake,” Jordan said. “I don’t like what you have done to me.”