While their neighbors were about to debate basketball at Springfield Township Committee meeting Tuesday evening, Ron and Sue Bohrer were closed up in their house, their doors and windows shut tight.
Outside, the air was finally drying up — September is coming — and there was a nice evening breeze coming down off the Watchungs through 5.35 acres of open space at Irwin Park.
But the Bohrer’s couldn’t enjoy it.
There was a basketball game going. Actually, two. The last remaining outdoor full court in Springfield was being used by 20 teenagers and young men. The only sounds in the neighborhood were the incessant clanging of the rims, the abrasive scraping of 40 feet on the green playing surface, and constant calls for the ball — "here, here, here" — and arguing calls — I didn’t touch you, man!"
Irwin Park is 5.35 acres, and home to the Springfield Junior Baseball League. There are bleachers and a snack stand. There is also a playground and three tennis courts. The basketball court is at the far end of the park, far from the houses on Irwin Street and Adams Terrace.
But it backs up almost right to the backyard property lines of people who live on Briar Hills Circle.
The Bohrers’ complaints echo those of other residents in Springfield, where the good intentions of the town leaders to refurbish seven basketball courts have backfired. The noise, the cursing, the trash.
"The bushes out back are all trampled," Ron Bohrer said. "I’d like the town to come in and plant new ones, to give us a little barrier."
Barrier here is the operative word. Because what has happened in Springfield over the last few months is really about barriers. And not the kind you think. The problem in Springfield is that the courts are within 50 feet of houses, and Tuesday night’s public hearing, it was determined the town should explore putting full-size courts in Meisel Avenue Park and the high school to keep them further away from residents.
The town redid their neighborhood parks a few years ago by taking advantage of state and county Green Acres grants. Seven full-sized basketball courts were resurfaced, with new backboards and rims put up. Using county or state money opens up the parks to everyone, residents and non-residents alike, which was the intent.
View full sizeSeen through a backboard in Laurel Park which has had the hoop removed, brothers Adam, 11, and Max, 15, Cohen play basketball.
Everybody was happy, until the courts were discovered by "out of towners." This was the expression repeatedly used at the public meeting Tuesday night to how a good idea went bad. So bad, that the town decided to take down one rim at six parks, rendering those courts to half-sized.
The town leaders decided to do this after months of listening to resident complaints about noise, cursing and the trash.
Tuesday’s hearing was to give people who wanted the courts returned to full-size a chance to have their say.
And this is where the Springfield basketball issue went off the tracks. Proponents of the courts say "out of towners" was a code word for blacks. The kids coming from Roselle, Hillside and Union to play on Springfield’s playgrounds.
A quote from a resident in Tuesday’s Star-Ledger that said the basketball court behind his house looked like the rec yard at "Rahway State Prison," fueled the charges of racism.
Mayor Ziad Andrew Shehady called it "a very embarrassing public display."
But many residents also resented that race became the issue.
"It’s easy to throw out the race card because people don’t have a defense," said Geri Bujnowski, who lives near one of the parks. "It’s an easy way to get your way."
"I don’t care who plays," said Sue Bohrer. "I grew up in Passaic, please. This is about quality of life."
Bohrer said her 20-year-old son uses the courts with his friends "of all colors."
"I grew up in Brooklyn," said Pat McDonnell, who lives near Henshaw Park, "and my neighborhood in Springfield is more diverse. To pretend we’re not used to seeing black people here is pretty unfair."
The problem in Springfield is not about color; it’s about other barriers, or lack thereof.
Neighboring towns like Summit and Millburn, similar in demographics, have full-court basketball courts used by "out of towners" at Memorial Field and Taylor Park, respectively, but those courts are hundreds of feet away from backyards. Summit re-did Memorial Field in recent years and added two full courts, with barely a resident complaint.
In Springfield, the full courts were squeezed into "pocket parks," small neighborhood parks designed for neighborhood use. Most are little more than an acre, with no natural barriers, like shrub or tree lines.
Henshaw Park, which is essentially a 1.38 acre square surrounded by four streets, is one of the parks where one rim was taken down. On Tuesday night, while 20 kids were on the court at Irwin Park, three boys were playing on the court at Henshaw. They all came on bicycles.
more read here http://blog.nj.com/njv_mark_diionno/2012/08/di_ionno_basketball_battle_in.html
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