Street Hockey: The New Stickball?

More evidence that hockey — and livable streets — aren’t just “a white thing.” From the New York Times’ Metropolitan Diary (along with a photo sent in by the author)…

Dear Diary:

Several Saturdays ago we had our Bedford-Stuyvesant block party. Cars were cleared by 7:30 a.m., yet by noon there was barely a soul on the street. It was as if no one wanted to be first at the party. I suggested to my husband (both of us Canadians) that we take out two hockey sticks and play a little one-on-one. His reaction was, “This is Bed-Stuy; people are going to think we’re insane.”

He was right that hockey is not exactly the most popular game in this part of town. Despite this, we took out the sticks and started hitting a ball back and forth. In about 10 minutes, we had a crowd of kids looking on, asking to play. Pleasantly surprised, my husband went inside and brought out his collection of old hockey sticks. With that, a full game of street hockey erupted.

Kids and even parents who had never met, much less ever held a hockey stick, took over the block with a game that lasted until dark. The brownstone stoops made for perfect bleachers for the fans. No one kept score, but I think everybody won.

Micaela Birmingham