Exploring Greenwich Village Researching what makes the Village a village.

What makes this story a Village story is the unique location. The West 4th Street Courts are located immediately next to the West 4th Street A,C,E,B,D, and F subway station, and are a block away from the 1, 2, and 3 trains. This central location allows players from all over the city to congregate and is clearly vital to the court’s popularity, as is evidenced by the relative unpopularity of the better kept basketball courts at 6th and Houston. Furthermore, because of the court’s proximity to Washington Square Park, tourists will often wander by, adding to the large and diverse crowds that have become a hallmark of playing at the West 4th Street Courts.

“West 4th is the only court in New York City where a player can actually imagine what it feels like playing overseas—it’s fun to play in front of all those foreign voices.” –Malloy “Future” Nesmith.

The safe neighborhood and unique crowds have set the West 4th Street Courts apart from other famous basketball courts, such as Rucker Park in Harlem, and cemented its niche in the area. Standing at the crossroads of the prominent black neighborhoods, the courts attract competition from all reaches of the city.

“We are a black basketball league playing in a white neighborhood,”– Kenny Graham

Kenny Graham, a limousine driver, started the annual summer tournament that has become a staple event at the courts since 1977. Since then, for over thirty years, he has remained the league’s commissioner, while continuing work as a limousine driver and also spending half of every year in Rio. Graham has stepped into place as one of the courts’ community leaders. He tries to keep the games respectful and peaceful, diffusing fights before they escalate and attempting to maintain every player’s self-esteem. He does his best to maintain standards, banning alcohol and often even smoking, knowing that these players must serve as role models for the younger generations. Most importantly, understands the importance of respect–the players are here to carve out a small name for themselves, and mockery would serve only to promote violence and eventually shut down the league.

Sources and Further Reading:

This entry was posted on Monday, May 16th, 2011 at 5:27 pm and is filed under Parks & Recreation. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.