The gymnasium at the McBurney Y.M.C.A. on West 14th Street in Manhattan is the site of regular, spirited games of pickup basketball that have been going on for over forty years.
“Harry Bogdos [82], an artist and a carpenter from the Upper West Side, is the dean of McBurney basketball. The others consider it a privilege to play alongside him. The roots of the game date to 1972, when Bogdos and a friend agreed to meet at the old McBurney Y, on 23rd Street, so they could play one on one several times each week — full court, to 100 points. It was masochism thinly disguised as basketball.
“‘We were in shape,” Bogdos explained.
“As the years passed and the buzz began to build, the game morphed to four on four. Because the court at the old gym was smaller, Bogdos favored a game with fewer players and more room to run.
“When McBurney moved nine blocks south to its current location, in 2002, Bogdos reluctantly consented for the games to expand to five on five.”
Read the full story here: Where Camaraderie Never Gets Old – NYTimes.com
