My parents and I moved to Queens when I was entering my teen years. Our apartment included a view of a junior high school and its adjacent playground. That gave me a somewhat distant vantage point to watch some of the City's best ballplayers compete against one another. I don't know why this particular playground, in the heart of a middle-class neighborhood, was the chosen ground. Two ideas come to mind: (1) The basketball courts were within walking distance of the subway, New York's transportation lifeblood; (2) Gangs were not contesting this particular turf.
The games were typically held on Sunday mornings, starting around seven o'clock. The level of play bordered on superb, with an emphasis on moves to the hoop. Jump shots were something of a last resort. While the players were mostly teenagers, these Sunday morning affairs were a man's game. Competition and testing one's opponent formed the fulcrum of these contests. I suppose somebody kept score, but the final tally wasn't the point.
Basketball for serious adult playground legends didn't take place in my neighborhood. That happened elsewhere. My one window into that world was the West Fourth Street playground in the City. This constantly active scene bordered on Sixth Avenue and sat adjacent to the subway station that was the gateway to Greenwich Village. West Fourth's Showtime atmosphere was just as much fun for spectators as for the players. Some urban hoop legends played here, but I didn't know who they were. The games, at their best, were intensely spirited affairs where, on occasion, wagers were placed. This was also the land of night basketball; it didn't threaten anyone except those hostile to earthy urban lifestyles. When I watched these games, I felt at one with the City, just as much as when I saw boats sail under the Brooklyn Bridge at night.
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| West 4th Street Courts (Old School photo: nycgovparks.org/parks) |
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