Juniper Valley Park played host to the citywide Parks Bocce Tournament qualifying round for Queens last weekend, however players say the courts are not ready for the championships there in two weeks (Sep. 20).
Steve Shakarchy, a regular at the Juniper Valley Park bocce courts, blames the city for spending more money on aesthetics and less on the playing surface.
“They spent more on that top roof than all the courts and they didn’t even do a good job,” Shakarchy said, pointing to newly installed steel shade structures on either end of the three courts. “When it rains the courts never dry and it’s uneven.”
He added that bocce balls banking off the back walls and back into play goes against the game’s rules and is an issue.
After the ribbon-cutting ceremony in late July, Shakarchy said the Parks Department told him they investigated complaints about the uneven surface and sidewalls and responded that ”the courts are good.”
“And that’s a total lie,” Shakarchy said. “I told them they have to fix it by the 20th – that’s when the finals are. People are going to come from Brooklyn and Staten Island, and they’re going to play on a court, when they’re professionals, and they can’t even judge their own ball. It’s disgusting.”
A representative of the Parks Department said they in fact did make some repairs, including steps to the newly constructed court as well as bocce ball racks, which were left out of the original construction plan.
Read the full story at the Queens Ledger.