CENTRAL PARK - day one

When we first set out on this mission to bocce the city by storm, central park came up first in the list of places to rock n roll. Think of the endless opportunities! It's almost infinite! Is it even possible to cover every inch of New York's most celebrated greenspace? Probably not, but we're sure as hell going to try. We can't spend just one day there, that's for sure.

Because Jessica BabyArms Berger lives on the Upper East, and he traveled down to the Village to play with us on Saturday, we decided to start our Central Park tour by the Metropolitan Museum. Unfortunately, the Great Lawn is not yet open for the season, so finding a patch of grass/dirt without screaming children and lovers locking lips proved difficult. But we reminded ourselves, this is URBAN bocce and we must take things like people/pets/

fences/rules seriously, and simply incorporate them as new obstacles along the way.

A recurring theme in yesterday's game was passersby not realizing the game we were playing, and, thinking we had lost a rogue ball, picking up either the snitch or a players' ball to give back to us. Fortunately, no one did that to a potentially winning ball, so it didn't really ruin game play. In another instance, when we realized we were in the way of a bunch of kids' playing steal the bacon, a lovely little girl invited us to play with them, "it'll be really fun!" Well I thought that was just so sweet of her.

Perhaps the best part of our first game--other than my winning it of course--was when Jessica BabyArms rolled his ball at a tree where a squirrel, curious, had his eye on our snitch. Unintentionally, the ball went straight for the squirrel, who then performed a miraculous twisted arial upon being hit by a bocce ball. It was pretty hilarious. Don't worry, the squirrel was fine. I wish we could have gotten a picture. Maybe the Asian tourists passing by did.

The second game took place a little further south and west, right by the pond in front of Belvedere Castle. There was real, green grass here! Bright and soft! I needed to sit on it for a while before we started our game.

This location was nice. The terrain was smoother and less unpredictable, the space was pretty open, and instead of children running around our neighbors were more the lounge-y type, thus it was all pretty relaxed. Plus we had such a pretty pond and a CASTLE in front of us! Man, every time I see that castle I think it's so wild, even though I've seen it a million times.

I, Tess, also won the second game yesterday, leaving our current standings at:

Jessica BabyArms Berger - 1

Tessbear (new nickname in the works) - 2

Caro (also needs a Bocce name) - 0

Hopefully Juicebox will join us next time, and add some new competition! And that goes for anyone else out there looking for an amazing way to spend a sunny afternoon in the City!

Until next time,

C & T

Hudson River Park- Pier 40

We found a garden/lawn right next to Pier 40 on the water after having an Ethiopian feast.  This spot was a bit smaller than Washington Sq., but there was much more grass and it felt nice. There were some plantings which was fun to throw the jack into in order to experience different terrain. The spot was pretty legit. We were on about W. Houston and the river, and the spot had amazing views. You can see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island very clearly. Tennis courts next to us. Had a nice game that Jesse won at the end. Would recommend this site for a good short-game, but no real long balls here.

Beautiful View

Washington Square Park

Day #1-

It's the first nice day after a series of rainy days, so it was a great day to kick off our season. In tow: me, C, TessBear, and our good friend Jesse (whose bocce name is "Jessica 'BabyArms' Berger). When we play with more people, up to 8, Tess and I usually play on the same team ("Justice League") but today was preseason so we were just warming up and playing individually. We weren't sure how WSP was going to stack up- it's been under construction for a while and isn't known particularly for its greenery.

When we arrived we found a medium sized triangle of ground to play on. There was a low chain but no fence. We were playing a great game for about 45 minutes. Suddenly, a park ranger told us we couldn't play there. Even though the chain said "No Dogs Allowed", nothing about people. I tried to reason with him but we had stayed a while so we thought we'd move on.

There wasn't much grass, and the ground had a lot of sticks, making for some wacky jumps. Might be better later in the season when more grass has sprouted.

The Terrain

In the past, we've prided ourselves on playing on all types of terrain, and in varied conditions. We've played garden bocce, snow bocce, hill bocce, beach bocce, forest bocce, backyard bocce, midnight full moon bocce, and rain bocce. We are like the post office- neither sleet nor snow...

This is also about utilizing urban green spaces, as they are an important part of a community, whether as a beautification or a place to engage in physical activity. We support green spaces, and appreciate that they are abundant in New York. We are also interested in learning what diverse places we can get away with in New York.

We have many ideas. Do you? Let us know in the comment section.

Urban Bocce Blog

Hello,

We love bocce. And we love New York. So we started a blog about playing bocce in New York. When we first started playing bocce, we were in college, and the rural setting of our school proved an idyllic environment for endless afternoon bocce games. Now we are back in the big city, far from our bucolic bocce origins. What were we to do? How could we engage in our favorite past time in the midst of the concrete jungle? Fear not. Urban Bocce Blog was created to give us an excuse to explore the many potential spaces to bocce-it-up in New  York, as well as share them with friends and followers.

-- C & T