The NYCHA Journal

The NYCHA Journal has informed and inspired residents since 1970, covering the news, contributions, and uplifting stories of the NYCHA community while providing the latest information on Authority initiatives.

King Towers basketball ribbon cutting
Connected Communities Top Story Youth 

Newly Renovated Basketball Courts Celebrated Across NYCHA This Summer

Vincent Echavaria

Basketball is taking center stage this summer at developments across NYCHA. 

Thanks to its collaboration with law enforcement partners, NYCHA is celebrating the opening of more than a dozen renovated basketball courts. These vital communal play spaces help keep residents and youth active and safe during the warmer months.  

“These investments in this kind of court are tremendously powerful; kids will play on this for years,” NYCHA Chair and CEO Greg Russ said at the opening of the redesigned basketball court at Manhattan’s King Towers in June. “NYCHA is committed to activating our open spaces in a way that builds community and connection among our residents, and the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic made that focus even more essential.” 

The wide-ranging basketball court upgrades at NYCHA were funded by the NYPD through asset forfeiture revenue provided by the District Attorney of New York, an investment totaling $4 million. Supporting the Safe Summer NYC plan – which seeks to combat community violence and uplift the city out of the COVID-19 crisis – the improvements to 14 existing NYCHA court sites in all five boroughs will give local youth a positive outlet of sports and recreation.  

“We do this for our youngsters to give them a place to be, a place to be safe, a place to not have to worry, and to let them know how much we love them,” NYPD First Deputy Commissioner Benjamin Tucker said of the police department’s investment.   

NYPD Chief of Housing David Barrere, speaking at the opening of Wald Houses’ new court in June, added: “We know that this is going to be a great place for our kids to play. This is a perfect example of cops and the community working together.” 

Beginning with Manhattan’s Douglass Houses in early June, NYCHA basketball court ribbon-cutting celebrations have been held at community events throughout the summer, with the latest at Queensbridge North and South Houses on August 12. Two additional court openings are scheduled at Castle Hill Houses in the Bronx in October and at Staten Island’s Richmond Terrace Houses in December. The celebrations have featured appearances by Mayor Bill de Blasio and former New York Knicks players, as well as giveaways of toys and sports equipment.  

Here are the 14 NYCHA sites getting basketball court renovations: 

Each of the upgraded basketball court facilities were designed by NYCHA’s Capital Projects Division with the assistance of residents and community stakeholders, who provided feedback through surveys and virtual meetings on how the site should be designed for their development. As part of the engagement process, which began in early 2021, more than 600 residents responded to the surveys, helping to influence their neighborhood’s final court layout and coloring, said Vaidehi Mody, Urban Designer in NYCHA’s Capital Projects Division. 

“We conducted tremendous outreach efforts, and we used that input from the meetings and the surveys in designing the final court sites,” she noted. 

Delma Palma, Deputy Director of Architecture and Urban Planning in the Capital Projects Division, commended the speedy efforts to complete the community recreation spaces only months after the resident engagement process. The court facilities received a variety of improvements, including resurfacing; customized paint and logos; new lighting, benches, and trees; trash receptacles; and new backboards, rims, and nets.     

“We looked at the whole site and what we could upgrade for the development with the budget that we had,” Ms. Palma said. “We’re always interested in making our spaces not only physically improved, but activated and safer.”  

Ms. Palma added that the basketball court overhaul is “emblematic” of NYCHA’s Connected Communities initiative, which engages residents through a participatory design approach to activate and improve open spaces at their developments.   

Residents have been eager to lace up their sneakers for some pick-up games this summer and were thankful for the community collaborations that made the new play spaces possible. 

“This is a shining example of collaborative work, and this is something for our community,” said Michael Parker, a former resident of Wagner Houses, which celebrated a court opening funded by NYCHA in late May. “Our residents built this and they worked so hard for this.”   

New York First Assistant District Attorney Audrey Moore pointed to some of the life lessons that youth can learn by participating in the team sport of basketball.  

“You learn how to lose, you learn how to win, you learn how to be a good team, and, ultimately, those are skills that will help our children as they go forward,” she said.  

As the newly refurbished court sites debut across the city, they will begin to host various sports-related programming provided by the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. Also, NYCHA is restoring a former citywide basketball league for youth through a partnership with Madison Square Garden Sports and the Knicks.    

“What a great way for us to begin to emerge from a pandemic, to show that we are investing in partnerships, investing in our residents, investing in our community – that’s how you build community,” Jenelle Hudson, NYCHA’s Director of Resident Engagement, remarked at the Wald Houses court ribbon cutting.

View video clips of the court ribbon cuttings at King Towers and Wald Houses.