New York Today: Ballpersons

Suzy Allman for The New York Times Are you over 14? United States Open ball-fetching glory could be yours.

When the United States Open tennis tournament begins on Monday in Queens, keep an eye on those gathering the balls.

Anyone over 14 can qualify, upon completing a grueling trial.

Let other tournaments â€" we’re looking at you, Wimbledon â€" select only from the young. New York is striking a blow against inequality.

Here, in fact, they are known, in a final nod to inclusiveness, as “ballpersons.”

This year, said Tina Taps, who runs the program, about 450 people applied for 75 slots.

They were recruited mostly through local schools, community boards, youth organizations and tennis programs in Queens, Harlem and across the city. (Yes, the vast majority are youngsters.)

The oldest person who ever attended a trial, she said, was around 80. In recent years, an Elvis impersonator repeatedly tried to join.

“He was better off staying in his band,” Ms. Taps said.

Ballpersons are paid up to $9 an hour.

Many tournaments, Ms. Taps said, consider the privilege of seeing the world’s greatest players up close reward enough.

“I guess we do it a little differently,” she said.

Here’s what you need to know for your Monday.

WEATHER

Highs in the mid-80s, with a chance of rain in the afternoon and into the evening. Leave the umbrella at home, if you want to live on the edge. Click here for more information.

TRANSIT & TRAFFIC

- Mass Transit Click for latest M.T.A. status.

- Roads Click for traffic map or radio report on the 1s.

Alternate-side parking is in effect.

COMING UP TODAY

- Joseph J. Lhota, the Republican mayoral candidate, fresh from an endorsement by this  newspaper’s editorial board, participates in the Jewish Press GOP Mayoral Forum, at the Boro Park Y.

- On the blue side of the race, Christine C. Quinn, also endorsed by The Times, hits 19 subway stops in honor of the 19th amendment to the Constitution, which allowed women to vote.

- Bill DeBlasio greets voters in Borough Park at the corner of 13th Avenue and 45th Street at 2:30 p.m. Bill Thompson campaigns outside the Choir Academy of Harlem, on 145th Street, from 9 a.m.

- Snakes. Why’d it have to be snakes? Annoy your friends and family by reciting lines from Raiders of the Lost Ark as it plays in Central Park’s Sheep Meadow at 8 p.m. [Free]

- A 30th anniversary screening of Wild Style, a classic documentary that bore witness to the early days of hip-hop in New York, is at East River Park in Manhattan at 6 p.m. Fab 5 Freddy, Grand Wizard Theodore and others attend. It will be bad. (Not bad meaning bad but bad meaning good.) [Free]

- Try dance classes led by Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, a dance company, at Ingersoll Community Center in Brooklyn at 6 p.m. [Free]

- A festival of short documentaries featuring Native American musicians is at the National Museum of the American Indian at 10:30 a.m. [Free]

- Story time for grownups at the New York Public Library features short stories from New York writers, at 7 p.m. [Free]

IN THE NEWS

- New York’s Attorney General is suing Trump University, Donald Trump’s for-profit investment school, accusing it of illegal practices and seeking at least $40 million in restitution. [New York Times]

- Women went topless in Bryant Park as part of “Go Topless Day.” The point, apparently, was  that women should feel as free as men to disrobe. [CBS]

- Muriel Siebert, the first woman to buy a seat on the New York Stock Exchange, died at 80. [New York Times]

- The quietest place in the city is apparently City Island [New York Daily News]

- Police opened fire in the city four times in three days last week. [New York Times]

- Little League players are confusing hawks, nesting at a ballfield in the Bronx, for baseballs. [New York Post]
AND FINALLY…

A Brooklyn man is suing the police, contending that he was arrested for being “too sexy,” our friends at Gothamist report.

Josue Pierre-Louis, 24, alleges that, as he was stopped by officers in Brownsville, Brooklyn, a passing woman catcalled towards him. A police officer thought her affections were directed towards him, according to Mr. Pierre-Louis.

But the officer became embarrassed when he discovered that he was not the intended target â€" Mr. Pierre-Louis was. So he arrested Mr. Pierre-Louis. Or so the lawsuit goes.

Nicole Higgins DeSmet contributed reporting.

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