Growing up on what were once the mean streets of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, my brother and I were forced to think creatively when it came to playing sports.

The backstop for our stickball field on Bergen Street was the facade of a bodega that lined a bus stop. High school sports provided no less luxury. Before each soccer game, our team had to fan out across the grassless public field in Red Hook (the dust bowl, we called it) to scour for used condoms and discarded syringes.

But it was always tennis that required the most ingenuity. To play at our neighborhood courts, we lugged our own net and spent half an hour rigging it to the rusty posts that the Department of Parks & Recreation was kind enough to provide.

Anyone who plays tennis today knows how hard it still can be to find affordable courts that are accessible without a car – or a Sherpa.

In the last few years, the parks department has done a great job of maintaining many of the city’s outdoor courts. (But, looking to close yawning deficit gaps last year, Mayor Bloomberg doubled the annual permit fee to $100. No word on whether the tennis tax has balanced the city budget.)

But if playing tennis outdoors in New York is a challenge, playing indoors is nearly impossible. The choices are few and becoming fewer. In the last two years, four of the most popular public clubs with indoor courts shut their doors: The East River Club, in Long Island City; Village Tennis Courts, on University Place; Crosstown Tennis, on West 31st Street; and the Wall Street Racquet Club.

“When one club closes, all the others absorb the abandoned players,” said Lara Schneider, the Eastern Region director of marketing and special events for the United States Tennis Association. “This is good for business for the other clubs.” But, she added, “this is bad for tennis overall because there are fewer places to play.” Most clubs are in prime neighborhoods, where they are priced out by wealthy developers. There are some stragglers, however. Depending on the season, time of day, and court availability, playing indoor tennis in New York will cost you anywhere between $30 to $136 an hour. Playing doubles or buying seasonal or monthly packages will save you money (rates vary from club to club).

According to the USTA, excluding colleges and public courts that “bubble” for the winter, there are fewer than 90 year-round indoor courts, both public and private, in all five boroughs.

It is the inaccessibility of courts that stunts the growth of tennis in New York. One of the best ways to get to the Roosevelt Island Racquet Club (281 Main Street Roosevelt Island, 212-935-0250, www.rirctennis.com),for example, is by tram.

Roosevelt’s Web site brags that the club’s 12 Lee green clay courts have, “shadowless nonglare lighting.” An individual annual membership costs $1,250 but hourly rates are also available. Most clubs offer similar memberships, which are more cost-effective than playing hourly.

Another option is the Sutton East Tennis Club (488 East 60th St., 212-751-3452, www.suttoneasttennis.com),tucked under the 59th Street bridge. With eight red-clay courts, leagues, lessons, youth programs, and tournaments, Sutton East, closed during the summer, is one of the few complete public tennis centers in the city.

The best facility, and surprisingly one of the most affordable, since it’s the largest public tennis club in the world, is the USTA National Tennis Center (Flushing Meadows, 718-760-6200, www.usta.com). The club has nine indoor hard courts, but the staff is covering up five more, so that professional play won’t be delayed by rain. When the US Open, which is held there every year, is over, it is open to the public. It’s getting to Flushing that deters many a tennis fan.

A more convenient, if less luxurious, option is New York’s oldest indoor club, Midtown Tennis Club (341 Eighth Ave., 212-989-8572, www.midtowntennis.com), which turns 40 this year. David Callot, a financial advisor, is a regular, but while he’s a fan of the staff and the proximity of Midtown, where he often takes lessons, the conditions are less than ideal.

“There is literally no back-court space and the surface is not level in many areas,” said Mr. Callot. “Some local competition would inspire Midtown to address these issues, but for now there really are no alternatives in their area.” Mr. Callot’s solution? To join one of the few private clubs in Manhattan.

Dr. Jason Shaw, a native New Yorker and avid tennis player who often plays in his medical scrubs, has no need for the exclusivity of a private club. So he joined Sportime at Randalls Island (1 Randalls Island, 212-427-6150, www.sportimetfm.com),New York’s newest public club.

The upside to Sportime is that their four indoor hard courts (they are expanding to 20 courts by the end of next year) are well maintained and stocked with baskets of practice balls and water coolers. For big hitters, there’s also ample space behind the service line.

The hard part is getting to Randalls Island (just over the Triboro Bridge) without a car. “We may not be on a subway line,” said Ted Dimond, Sportime’s director of tennis, “but that won’t stop us from becoming the Four Seasons of the New York tennis world.”

Dr. Shaw, for one, is hooked on Sportime: since joining a few months ago, he hasn’t lost a set to his new tennis partner. But it’s not just the thrill of winning that keeps him coming back. “There is nothing more invigorating at 11 p.m. on a wintry night,” he said, “than the smell of hot tennis-bubble air.”