Black Fives Nonprofit Announces Harlem Playground Court Repainting Project
PRESS RELEASE
BLACK FIVES NONPROFIT ANNOUNCES HARLEM COURT REPAINTING PROJECT TO HONOR 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF HISTORIC NEW YORK RENS BASKETBALL TEAM, ON LOCATION AT SELECTED SITE
Working With Manhattan Borough President’s Office and NYC Parks In Partnership With SLAM Media And Project Backboard, The Public Outdoor Court At Howard Bennett Playground On West 135th Street Has Been Selected For Refurbishment To Honor The First Ever Black-Owned, All-Black, Fully Professional Basketball Team In History
HARLEM, New York – November 16, 2023 – The Black Fives Foundation, a Greenwich, CT-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to preserve, teach, and honor the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball, announced the launch today of an outdoor playground court repainting project in Harlem, to be completed in May 2024.
The court repainting celebrates the 100th anniversary of the legendary New York Rens, formed in 1923 as the first Black-owned, all-Black, fully professional basketball team in history. The Rens debuted at the Renaissance Ballroom in Harlem on November 3, 1923, with a 28-22 victory over the Collegian Five, an all-White squad. The Harlem-based squad went on to win 85% of its games with 150-game schedules from 1923 to 1949, the equivalent of an NBA team winning 70 games a season for 25 years in a row. Yet, there was no site in Harlem that celebrated this Hall of Fame team, until now.
“As breakers of backboards and barriers, the New York Rens were pioneers, and it’s an honor to finally commemorate their legacy in Harlem,” said Deputy Manhattan Borough President Keisha Sutton-James. “Recognizing how they forever changed basketball, it’s extremely fitting that a memorial to the Rens gives back to the community by providing a revitalized court that welcomes players from all backgrounds.”
Attendees at the event included Deputy Manhattan Borough President Keisha Sutton-James, Miguel Batista, CFO, SLAM Media, NYC Parks staff, students and staff from PS 197 John B. Russwurm Elementary School, New York Rens descendants Lauren Myers (grand-niece of Zach Clayton) and Ron Carson (nephew of Spencer “Stretch” Hill), as well as Claude Johnson, Executive Director, Black Fives.
Michael King, Black Fives Foundation board of directors member and son of legendary Harlem icon William “Dolly” King, who played for the New York Rens during the 1940s, said, “I am proud that all these years later his athletic abilities and legacy are being honored through this commemoration.”
The selected site is the basketball court in Howard Bennett Playground facing West 135th Street, adjacent to PS 197 John B. Russwurm Elementary School. “It is amazing that it took so long for this rich part of Harlem’s history and the history of the New York Rens basketball team to be memorialized in this way,” said PS 197 principal Natasha Spann. “Our students and school community are thrilled that the legacy will live in our backyard,“ she added.
“Our goal is for this commemorative site to be educational, celebratory, and inspiring, and to become a local, national, and international destination for all fans of basketball, history, and the African American experience,” said Black Fives Foundation founder Claude Johnson.
The central location of the site is ideal and significant. It is adjacent to PS 197, across the street from Lenox Terrace, behind Harlem Hospital, a block from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, and right by the 135th Street Station on the Seventh Avenue Express subway line.
Historically, across the street was the country’s first all-Black athletic organization, the Alpha Physical Culture Club, formed in 1904. One block over there was Olympic Field, an Negro Leagues baseball stadium during the early 1910s. Down the street was the Commonwealth Sporting Club, a boxing and basketball venue during the late 1910s and early 1920s. On the next block in the other direction is the Harlem YMCA, home to many notable African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance and beyond. Also nearby is the former site of the famous Renaissance Casino, once nicknamed “The Aristocrat of Harlem,” which was the New York Rens’ homecourt.
“SLAM has always been about telling basketball stories, and there is no more important story than that of the New York Rens,” said Les Green, CEO of SLAM Media, a supporting partner in the project. “Honoring their place in history and acknowledging the contributions they made to the game is the least that we can do as a basketball community,” Green continued.
“This court repainting honors the legends who have paved the way for generations of New Yorkers and aspiring basketball players,” said NYC Parks Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “Thanks to this refurbishment, the court at Howard Bennett Playground will receive a fresh-new upgrade – but even more importantly, Harlem residents will have the opportunity to reflect and learn about the first ever Black-owned and all-Black professional basketball team in history.”
When completed, the court will reopen with a ribbon cutting and a community event.
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Media Contacts:
media@blackfives.org
kelsey.jean-baptiste@parks.nyc.gov
About The Black Fives FoundationThe Greenwich, CT-based Black Fives Foundation is a 501(c)3 public charity whose mission is to research, preserve, showcase, teach, and honor the pre-NBA history of African Americans in basketball, a period known as the Black Fives Era that lasted from the early 1900s to 1950, when the NBA signed its first Black players. The organization advocates expanding Black history education to amplify and include this important history, utilizing nearly 1,000 related artifacts in its historical archive as well as a portfolio of related intellectual property and other difference-making initiatives. For more information, please visit www.blackfives.org.
About Adopt-a-ParkThe Adopt-a-Park program allows organizations to show their commitment to local communities by renovating a beloved playground, resurfacing a basketball or tennis court, or turning unused, paved areas into green spaces with flowers and trees. Organizations interested in the Adopt-a-Park program can call (212) 360-8144 or email AdoptAPark@parks.nyc.gov for more information.
Citation, All Images: Courtesy of the Black Fives Foundation
RENS100™, New York Rens®, and Rens® are trademarks of Black Fives Properties, Inc. All rights reserved.
A Truly Historic Event in Harlem