Handball
Handball action has been a continuous feature of St. Vartan Park since the handball wall that remains in use today was erected in the 1930s.
The southern St. Vartan Park handball wall and courts see action on September 18, 2022
The handball court, located alongside Second Avenue between East 35th and East 36th Streets, is also used for pickleball matches and practice for other racquet sports.
For more on the park’s handball community, please visit this WhatsApp group managed by some of the park’s veteran players.
Retrospection
“St. Vartan Park, a two-and-three-quarter-acre slice of Murray Hill that’s bordered on one side by the entrance to the Queens-Midtown Tunnel . . . is well loved and lively . . . with basketball and handball courts and a busy playground.”
The park’s handball wall is captured west of a park walkway on August 1, 1939 | Photograph courtesy of MTA Bridges and Tunnels
“The park was reconstructed in 1936, and a playground, wading pool, roller skating track, and courts for handball, shuffleboard, and horseshoe pitching were added, as well as a field house and comfort station . . . ”
The handball wall appears alongside Second Avenue on July 3, 1936, soon after the wall was erected | Photograph shot from the St. Gabriel’s branch of the New York Public Library courtesy of MTA Bridges and Tunnels
“The western portion of the park . . . contains heavily used basketball and handball courts that constitute active space in a neighborhood that is severely deprived of parkland. ”
