Players Don't Listen, De Blasio Removes Basketball Hoops From 80 Locations

Removed basketball hoop at St. Andrew’s Playground on the corner of Atlantic Ave. and Kingston Ave. Curtis Brodner/Bklyner

Mayor De Blasio announced the removal of hoops from 80 basketball courts that have consistently failed to follow directive not to engage in team sports during Coronavirus.

“Overwhelmingly, we are seeing New Yorkers follow the rules,” Mayor said at last night’s press conference. The city has kept its parks and playgrounds open for recreational purposes, as long as individuals observe the suggested social distancing – remain six feet apart.

“I want to differentiate in fact what’s acceptable and what’s not on a basketball court in the age of coronavirus. If you’re a kid or adult who just wants to shoot hoops yourself, single, solitary, you can do that. Make sure you’re socially distanced from the people around you,” de Blasio said. “If you’re a family, people that live under the same roof and you want to play with each other on the basketball court, that’s fine. But what’s not fine anymore is any kind of basketball game between people who do not live under the same roof, because, let’s face it, it’s a contact sport, people are going to get close together, it creates a danger.”

The City removed basketball hoops this week at courts that failed to comply with the ban on games during PAUSE. Curtis Brodner/Bklyner

So the city has identified 80 locations, in consultation with the Parks Department and the NYPD, where residents, after they repeatedly attempted to enforce social distancing, just would not listen, and the hoops are gone. The mayor said the courts remain open for other kinds of solitary recreation and issued a warning that they may take down more hoops if residents don’t follow rules:

“People don’t follow the rules, we’ll take the hoops down there. And if we have to end up closing off basketball courts across the board, we’ll do it, if we have to. I don’t want to do it. I want to see if we can get it right. I want to give people maximum options, but you’d got to follow the rules to matter of everyone’s safety.”

We have asked for the list of the courts, and will update when we hear back. Here are the Brooklyn locations, now hoopless:

Kaiser Park
Dean Street Playground
Wingate Park
Sethlow Park
Benson Playground
Sunset Park
Jackie Robinson Playground
Kelly Park
PS 811 Playground
Saint Andrews Park
Gershwin Park
Callahan-Kelly Playground
McCarren Park
Dr. Green Playground
Stroud Park
Brower Park
Robert Venable Park
Marion Hopkinson Park