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The tennis concession part-owned by tennis legend John McEnroe known as Sportime is hoping to add nine more courts to its existing 20. But local advocates want to know who he is building them for.

"If you come here on the weekend on Randall's Island, you will see license plates from New Jersey, Lexuses, cars that certainly don't come from East Harlem. So the people who have made use of all these wonderful renovations, complexes et cetera are not, for the most part, East Harlem residents," said Marina Ortiz, East Harlem Preservation.

The Parks Department owns Randall's Island and gave Sportime its concession contract. Parks officials confirm there are discussions about new courts, adding that income from the project will go to improve and maintain other facilities on the island like the baseball fields.

But there are a lot of questions because the proposal is still pretty much under wraps.
City Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito, who also chairs the Council's parks and recreation committee, says a series of hearings should take care of that.

"The Land Use Review process provides us that transparency and openness. It has to go to City Planning, it has to go to the Community Board, it has to go to the Borough President, it has to come to the City Council," Mark-Viverito said.

During all that time there will be public hearings and lots of dialogue among the interested parties.

Sportime wouldn't talk about the proposed expansion with NY1 but one of its pros did.

"New York City has lost a lot of courts in the last 10, 20 years and there's nothing more this city needs than bubbled tennis courts," said Sportime Tennis Pro Delio Pacifici.

The review process is likely to be a long one, and no one is expecting to see any activity at the site for at least a year.