Friends Meet for Pick-Up Basketball Every Week for 40 Years

A group of men — some in their 70s and 80s — has been meeting twice a week for more than 40 years to play basketball at a YMCA in Chelsea.

It's not just a ritual for them but a form of therapy that keeps them feeling young in this fast-paced city.

On a cold Thursday morning in February, sweat dripped from the foreheads of the 10 men in full sprint on the court inside the McBurney YMCA gym on West 14th Street. They were going on their second hour of basketball before most people had even sipped a second cup of coffee.

"On days I don’t play, I feel off. I feel like something’s out of sync," said Steve Harris, a professional voice-over artist by day and basketball junkie by morning.

At 55 years old, Harris is one of the babies in what may be New York City's longest running pickup game. It started in 1972 when Harry Bogdos and a friend began playing one-on-one games at the Y.

They added a few players, then a few more.

"Guys like to rebound and pass, so I can do the shooting," laughed Bob Pagnotta, 77.

Many of Pagnotta's teammates refer to him as "Basketball Bob" and he runs the show. Others call him the general manager because he picks the rosters.

"If we’re out there -- we being the older guys -- we try to keep the intensity level down," Pagnotta said, a wry smile stretching across his face. "It’s these younger guys that get carried away."

A few minutes later, Pagnotta needled the player he was guarding and yelled that there was no way he would take the last shot in what was a tie game. It's understood that the 77-year-old prefers to take the would-be game winners at the buzzer. And the other unwritten rule? Nobody calls traveling, especially not on the now 82-year-old Bogdos.

"The first time I played I called a walk," Harris said. "Harry pulled me aside and said, 'Excuse me, young man, we don’t call walks in this game.'"

In this week's game, a pair of 20-somethings watched as men twice and three times their age pushed the ball up the floor. The pace rarely slowed down until the clock hit zero. Then it was time to switch up teams; it was agreed that the two new guys -- the "kids" -- could join in the next game, but only if they played "the McBurney way," named for the gym in which they shoot.

"This is one of the few games in New York City you’ll actually see a pick-and-roll," said Harris, who favors crisp passing over chucking up shots.

It's suggested that Knicks president Phil Jackson should bring his team by for a lesson or two on how to run the triangle offense.

"We’d try and talk him out of it," Harris laughed. "I don’t think it’s working too well."

The game plan seems to be working just right for these men, who rarely miss a Tuesday or Thursday morning game. Some are retired. Others still work, and their employers know not to mess with this ritual, which ends with breakfast at the Good Stuff Diner next door.

There, in between bites of bacon and eggs, they rehash every pick-and-roll. Lay-ups turn to dunks. Middle-aged men might as well be in their 20s again.

"I wouldn’t be able to survive in New York if it wasn’t for this place," said Harris. "This is the best therapy anybody can get."

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