West 4th Street Courts
Encyclopedia
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, are a notable public athletic venue for amateur basketball. "The Cage" has become one of the most important tournament sites for the city-wide "Streetball
Streetball
Streetball or street basketball is a variation of the sport of basketball, typically played on outdoor courts and featuring significantly less by way of formal structure and enforcement of the game's rules...
" amateur basketball tournament, and is noted for its non-regulation size.
Because it is so small, more emphasis is given to "banging inside," or tough physical play. Usually the sidelines are simply ignored during play.
Due to the large number of players who come to play here (especially from the Bronx), competition for playing time is stiff, and losing players rarely get to play twice in a row.
The courts are located over the West Fourth Street – Washington Square subway station ( trains) and have an entrance to it adjacent to the courts.
Numerous national commercials have been shot at The Cage.
Former NBA players Anthony Mason
Anthony Mason (basketball)
Anthony George Douglas Mason is a retired American National Basketball Association player with the New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat. He averaged 10.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in his 13-year NBA career...
and Smush Parker
Smush Parker
William Henry "Smush" Parker is an American professional basketball player. Parker played shooting guard in college but moved to point guard in the NBA...
are some of the nationally recognized ballplayers to learn their tough style of play from The Cage.
External links
- Profile in "Washington Square NewsWashington Square NewsThe Washington Square News is the daily student newspaper of New York University and serves the NYU, Greenwich Village, and East Village communities. The paper, better known as WSN, has a circulation of 10,000 and an estimated 65,000 readers online...
" http://nyunews.com/sports/2010/10/19/20cage/ - Profile in The Village VoiceThe Village VoiceThe Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0130,mallozzi,26651,3.html - Basketball league http://www.insidehoops.com/west-4th-street-basketball.shtml
- Plotted in court directory http://nofouls.com/court/1181
- Court profile of West 4th Street basketball court Courts Of The World
- Satirical article in The OnionThe OnionThe Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
plays off the courts' "infamously tough" reputation: Basketball Rolls To Stop At Cheney's Foot