Squash Court in Midtown: Open Squash Bryant Park Rentals

The five courts of Open Squash Bryant Park sit on the fifth floor of 25 West 39th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, two short blocks from the lawn of Bryant Park. It is the original home of the nonprofit Open Squash, and for anyone in Midtown typing squash court near me on a lunch break, it is one of the few addresses where a non-member can rent glass-back court time by the 45-minute slot.

All five courts are glass-backed singles courts built to international dimensions, and one of them serves as the show court for exhibitions. That is a smaller footprint than the eight-court FiDi floor, which means fewer slots at any given hour and a more crowded lounge when a clinic lets out. The trade-off is location: Grand Central, Times Square and the Port Authority Bus Terminal are all within a ten-minute walk.

Shared facilities include locker rooms with showers, a fitness area, a lounge with workspace and a stringing service. The club lends racquets and goggles at the desk, so a commuter who wants to try the game after work only needs to carry non-marking shoes in a bag. Leave the trail runners at home; dark rubber soles mark the floor and staff will ask you to change.

New York Squash dates the Bryant Park opening to October 2019, making it the older of the two current Open Squash clubs; the FiDi floor at 100 Pearl Street followed in early 2024, and a Williamsburg site is listed as opening in 2027. The organization is a registered 501(c)(3), and it offers income-based financial aid that more than one in five members use.

The Director of Squash at this location is Peter Creed, a Welsh former professional ranked in the top 50 on the PSA tour, who also coaches across both sites. Creed's presence shapes the fall calendar here, which leans more toward structured training groups for strong club players than the beginner-heavy downtown schedule.

Sundays are the busiest day on West 39th. The October schedule runs an Intro to Squash at 10:30am, a Beginner clinic at 11:15am, then hour-long Fall Training blocks by rating, starting at 3.5 at noon and climbing to 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 through the afternoon, with a 75-minute session for players rated 5.5 and above at 4pm. A 90-minute Social Round Robin for ratings of 2.5 and up closes the day at 5:15pm.

Weekdays start early. There are 7:30am and 8:15am sessions before office hours on most days, lunchtime Beginner and Progression clinics at noon and 12:45pm, and an evening block at 6:45pm and 7:30pm. Wednesday adds a 9:45am Beginner Women session for players without a rating up to 2.99. Evening beginner slots on Monday were already full in mid-October, so book several days ahead.

Open Squash describes itself as anything but a private club: anyone can tour, book a clinic or rent a court. Non-members may rent 45 minutes outside peak hours, up to twice a month. Peak is weekdays from 7:30 to 8:15am, noon to 1:30pm and 5:15 to 7:30pm, which unfortunately overlaps with most Midtown lunch breaks. A 1:45pm slot or a weekend morning is your best bet.

The free intro clinic, booked with code START4FREE, works at this location too. The $79 two-week trial is sold only at FiDi, so a Midtown player who loves the free clinic and wants to keep going will pick between a FiDi trial and a straight membership here. If you know a member, coming as their guest is the simplest route into a 6pm game.

Memberships are tied to a home facility. Off-Peak costs $149 a month on an annual plan or $169 month to month and carries a $10 court fee per booking. Pay to Play runs $199 or $229 with a $10 off-peak and $25 peak court fee, and Unlimited costs $299 or $339 with no court fees. Passport, $50 a month, opens bookings at FiDi as well.

Straight advice for Midtown office workers: Pay to Play is the plan that fits lunch-hour squash, because Off-Peak locks you out of the noon window entirely. If you only play weekends, Off-Peak is plenty, and the money saved covers a lot of post-game food.

The weekday calendar tells you who plays here: pre-work sessions at 7:30am for people who shower and walk to an office, noon clinics for those who can step away for an hour, and Sunday training blocks that draw the club's strongest adult players. Junior Academy groups run on their own schedule, listed on the Juniors page, and add traffic on weekday afternoons.

Because the courts are fewer, round robins here feel tight-knit. The Sunday 5:15pm social, which still had eight open spots in mid-October, rotates partners every few games, and it is the easiest way for a newcomer with a 2.5 rating to meet regular hitting partners without needing an introduction.

Bryant Park is two blocks north and changes with the season; from late October its Winter Village brings an ice rink and a holiday market to the lawn, and the Reading Room and chess tables operate in warmer months. The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library, with its Rose Main Reading Room, borders the park on Fifth Avenue.

If the five courts are booked solid, Open Squash FiDi has eight courts at 100 Pearl Street, and Nicol Squash on West 42nd Street near the Hudson rents courts to non-members at posted rates without a membership. Both are reachable from the 42nd Street stations in a few minutes.

Address: 25 West 39th Street, 5th floor, New York, NY 10018. Hours: weekdays 6am to 10:30pm, weekends 8am to 8pm. Subway: 42nd Street Bryant Park on the B, D, F and M, or Fifth Avenue on the 7; Grand Central is a short walk east. Bring non-marking shoes; racquets and goggles are lent free.