Ideas Wanted For Renovation Of West 186th Street Basketball Court

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — The New York City Parks Department and Upper Manhattan Council Member Carmen De La Rosa want your feedback on the best ways to renovate a basketball court in Washington Heights.

On Monday, the Parks Department will host a meeting at 6:30 p.m. to hear community input about the basketball court at West 186th Street, between St. Nicholas and Audubon Avenues.

"You are welcome to offer your ideas on how you would like to see this park improved to better serve the community," De La Rosa wrote in a tweet. "With this input, we will develop a plan for the renovation, which will be presented to the Community Board 12 parks committee for public review in a few months."

You can register for the meeting here.

The basketball court is somewhat nestled into West 186th Street.

An apartment building on the site was demolished in the 1970s, which was bought by the city in 1978, but remained empty until the 1990s, according to the Parks Department.

In the late 90s, the Association of Progressive Dominicans received permission from the city to build a basketball court.

The organization maintained the court until 1997, when it was taken over by the Parks Department.

At that time, the city installed fencing, lighting and new hoops for the court. A mural was painted in 1998 on one of the basketball court's walls in memory of Rudy Frias, an Upper Manhattanite who died in an alcohol-related car crash the same year.

The mural now also contains the names of locals who have played in basketball games during the spring and summer months.