BY ALEX ELLEFSON | The sound of rubber balls popping over pavement returned to Chelsea Park’s handball courts last week after the Parks Department wrapped up an almost two-month-long renovation of the recreation space.
Longtime Chelsea resident Angel Perez was on a court Sunday, batting around a green rubber ball while he played a few matches with friends.
“They look amazing,” he said of the rejuvenated courts. “The walls used to be uneven and had a lot of holes. It was really frustrating because you might lose a game or two when the ball bounced off a crack and went in the wrong direction.”
The courts reopened Tues., Aug. 23, following a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by elected officials, community leaders and Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver. Representatives from the Fairway Community Foundation, whose $127,000 donation paid for the renovation of the handball courts at Chelsea Park (Ninth to 10th Ave., btw. W. 27th & W. 28th Sts.) and Brooklyn’s Coffey Park, also attended the opening.
“Handball is deeply ingrained in the New York City park experience, offering a unique and fun way to exercise and play,” said Silver. “And thanks to the renovations funded by Fairway Community Foundation, the courts at Coffey and Chelsea Parks received a needed facelift.”
The city stripped, patched, painted, and re-striped the courts, also relining the pavement and repairing a section of handball mesh.
Perez said the spruced up courts brought a new energy to the area.
“You should have seen it Saturday night,” said Perez. “Kids were posing in front of the walls to take pictures. There was a game in every court [all six], and you had at least four groups of people waiting to play. I’ve never seen it so crowded.”
Community Board 4 Chair Delores Rubin explained other improvements had been made over the last decade to Chelsea Park, which also includes baseball diamonds, basketball courts and playground equipment. However, the handball courts continued to deteriorate because funding to repair them was always out of reach.
“It’s great that a private organization was able to step in and filled a hole on something government could not fix, but was really important to people in the neighborhood,” she said.
Rubin said the renovated handball courts at Chelsea Park — one of the most popular parks in Lower Manhattan, according to the Parks Department — will encourage more residents to use the public space.
“A good surface will attract new players, especially children. And it makes the whole park look very nice,” she said.
The new courts are also being put to use for other sports. Josh Halpenny-Nguyen said he invited his dodgeball league teammates to practice at Chelsea Park after he saw the renovations.
“It used be really run down and was kind of an option of last resort,” he said. “But they fixed all the cracks. It looks really nice and now it was my first choice for practice.”
Halpenny-Nguyen and his team are preparing to compete in a national dodgeball tournament in New Orleans this weekend.
Teammate Edgar Fox said having a quality area, which is also free, makes their practices go much better. He also said it is safer.
“You can trip over a crack and roll your ankle,” he said. “So when you don’t have to keep looking out for cracks, you can just focus on playing the game.”
For more info on Chelsea Park, visit nycgovparks.org/parks/chelsea-park.
