I play badminton weekly at home and while traveling to NY, I saw that there are plenty of places to play but many are at school gyms. I found Fitness Badminton online and liked the title so I contacted the person to get more information. The website had different information than other places with their listing, and I know the internet may not have the most current info when the business does not have their own facility. Ths price is still current at $10/person. This is also the only place that lists loaner rackets available, but unfortunately they now do rentals. However, I gave Kenneth a call to explain I am from out of town so I do not have anything with me and will be coming with a few friends to play, and he generously offered to loan my friends and me rackets for the night! (I contacted one other place and looked up 4 other places and no other facility seemed to have the same generosity or personal touch, which is why I decided to go here.)
Fitness Badminton is located inside one of Midwood High School's gym. They used to be located at a different school's gym, which is where we ended up because we used Google Maps to get there. So, be sure to type in the address from the website or make sure Google Maps has the current address.
Although the host is friendly and generous, the courts is what made this place lose a star. There are no badminton lines on the courts!! The lines are taped on using masking tape. It appears as though this is done each time the courts are used for badminton. There are only three nets, which are not for badminton either, so the birdies get stuck in them. Needless to say there are not poles for the nets so the court we played on had a wooden stick holding the net up the right height. The floor was quite slippery, so it wasn't easy to play competitive games without risking injury.
The drinking fountain in the gym doesn't work, so be sure to bring your own bottled water. There are vending machines in the basement of the school if you forget though. Regulars bring their own water, new and used feather birdies, and rackets.
I would come back here if I am not playing competitively or if I'm in in area though. :) read more