As per the above tweet from Nike, the temporary tennis court at the northeast corner of Canal and Varick is a Nike promotion to introduce its Nike Court clothing line—and while it’s certainly timed to the U.S. Open, the tournament appears to have nothing to do with it. The Nike Court line debuts on Thursday, and from what I can tell, is not your grandfather’s Nike Tennis line (and it includes items for both on and off the court, designed in a collaboration with Hiroshi Fujiwara’s brand, Fragment):

I walked over to see if I could find anything out, but no. I also called Nike’s PR team, and after getting passed along twice, I’m waiting to see if someone will respond. I’d give it a 15% chance.  The bigger the company, the less likely it is to engage with a neighborhood website.

The utter lack of advance promotion makes me think the event(s) held at the court will not be open to the public, and given the name Night Court and the substantial lighting, they’re likely to be in the evening. But I’m also wondering if it isn’t all for a big fashion show and/or party, rather than for playing tennis. The entrance has a VIP-party vibe.

UPDATE: As I was writing this, @NikeNYC tweeted this (thanks to B. for pointing it out). So maybe it’s open to the public after all? If so, maybe it’ll take some of the pressure off the Washington Market Park’s court….

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