United by Ping Pong, These Players Find Community in a New York Park | Short Film Showcase

I was actually walking by one day. I look over and I see ping pong balls in the air. I said, "Wow, tables!" Sometimes you come out of work and there you have the tables. Then, like your buddies, they're waiting for you to come and get the spits out. I take the bus to the train, then train to another train just to get here. Bryant Park has a nice New York type of atmosphere, all walks of life, and all the ping pong players come from all over the world playing at this park.

It's funny because this used to be the place called the drug addict, she'd come to hang out at one point. Like maybe 20 years ago, this was like a no-go zone. I know it's completely changed, and completely changed in a really great way. Behind each individual, there's a story. As I got to know these people, it was fascinating for me to find out what they went through and everything led to this place, and he made me feel like I'm not the only one.

You know, I discovered ping pong when I was about 11 or 12 years old. I lived in a foster home and I was the youngest out of six foster children in the home. They had a ping pong table in the basement, and my older foster brothers did not want me to play. My foster mother said, "You got to let him play," and that's how I learned how to play the game. It was strictly under duress. I became a good player.

Why you got me? Just play for the interesting characters to come to Bryant Park. Maybe Darren, you might be the funniest guy in the park. Hyo, is that something clever to say? Darren's a real open guy, naps and jokes, and everybody always comes and feeds. Everybody always goes to Jack's, buys a bunch of photos and stuff. Oh, and then we got Coney; it's like that Chinese guy who's always here with the shirt off because he says it's hot.

Well, we have Tyrone, which we call him crazy sometimes. He brings a wood paddle, just a piece of wood though. I like to say when I'm playing really hard, I'm tough to beat with my block of wood. Wally Green, as far as I know, he's a professional table tennis player. When you think you're good, you'll look at someone like Wally and realize you have a far way to go. There's another character; his name is Sir Joey's. I don't know how old he is, but he's got to be past seventy. Sergio is a real attack player, but if you give him a high ball, he will smash it and smash it; he's massive.

There's a gentleman by the name of Gregory. Gregory is the rock; he's always there. You can trust him to be here. He's homeless, but he's not your average homeless man. He's kind of like a boss. You don't really know it, but you cut out the boss.

I've been homeless almost two years now. It's not the first time. The last time I was homeless, it was because I was using drugs. This time it's because I lost a job, and here I am. It's hard for me to find work; it's a whole bunch of things I talked about. It's a consequence of my own actions, you know, years of drug abuse and shoddy work history. A really big factor now is my age; I'll be 60 in January. I'm up against it, but I still have faith that some kind of break— I don’t even want more break— somewhere that's got to be ready for me.

It's funny, man, in taste; I always think of myself as a good person, but I've been to the prison system. I've been there three times. A lot of it had to do with drug use, me smoking crack cocaine. If you're young and you start getting in trouble and you don't have money to fight the system, you're going to jail. I went to jail, I went to jail a couple of times, and I said never again.

Now I might be a little bit older, but I don't get in trouble or do anything wrong. I never was a thief; I just never was a really bad person. I got back to being what I'm supposed to be. I'm not ashamed of it; it is what it is, but I've grown. I don't stay stagnating and being a negative person around negativity.

There's a saying in 12-step programs that says if you change your thinking, you will change your behavior. I've changed the way I think, so therefore I change throughout the age. I love that same tune.

You'll notice if you come here often, like from about 4 o'clock, the regular crew starts. Everyone wonders, then you come off their jobs or they come off doing whatever they've got to do, getting ready for 7 o'clock. We call ourselves the after-7 guys. After 7, the pros come in.

So in the morning, it's like a little—we're playful, kitty—something, and at night it's like where, you know, things get a little rugged. They start playing hardcore at nighttime. It's the ones who have their own paddles that are hardcore about the game that come here and play after 7:00 p.m. That's when things get interesting; that's when the hustling starts.

And that's when winner stays on the table. We play doubles on one table and singles on the other. On the singles table, when it stays on, you play and play and play. You can't get bored; it's more fun.

I'm kind of an undercover guy because I do play pro-tour for USA, and a lot of times I don't want to tell anybody. It's usually the other guys' thing. So currently, I represent the U.S. in pro tour competition. I play all over the world, and I want to promote this sport.

Three weeks ago, I returned from North Korea. I thought it would be a good opportunity to go to a totally different country, which is hostile to Americans, and say, "Hey look, I'm American. I play the same sport you play, and I'm a cool ass. You're going to like me!"

I used to be into a lot of crazy stuff. I grew up in Marlborough Projects in Brooklyn. At 13, I owned six guns. Six! Not one, not two— I owned six. My life took a turn at 19 years old. I met a guy through going to this ping-pong club. At the time, I didn't really have any money, and the guy was like, “Hey, you know, I'll pay you $20 if you can play with me, just be my consistent partner.”

So I said, “Twenty bucks! It's a hustle; I'll make that money.” So I played with this guy for, like, I don't know, like six months, and then we started becoming friends. Then, uh, this guy sent me the Germany flight. He paid; I stayed in this school where all the young best athletes live, and I learned table tennis. From that was the changing point in my life.

That's what took me out of the whole gangster thing. If it wasn't for this sport and that guy, I would be dead or in jail—like, all the way. I don't have any friends that I can say, "Oh, this did it. This is my friend." I grew up with all my friends. They're dead or in jail, so all my new friends are ping pong friends, and anything I've done is related to ping pong.

But most people don't know that I'm responsible or my company is responsible for these tables. It makes me feel amazing! I mean the fact that people are playing every day, people are loving it, tournaments—they're playing! So the whole point of bringing it here wasn't in vain.

It's 7 o'clock; it's raining, pouring. What? The tables are all wet, and the ground is all red, and we are still here in hopes. Our will have economy—what's unique about how tour ping pong is you battle your opponent and you battle the wind. If you don't want to play with the wind, then you're pretty much in trouble because the ball can drop short. You can hit the ball softly; you can fly out the dog, the water, drain woman, wipe the tables off.

Play ping pong; love this! It's gonna rain again. People will play in the snow. People come out here and they will play when it says 32 degrees or lower, and the ball is shattering when it hits the net. Well, one thing about the metal net affects the game. The net is metal, so usually then, that's not too forgiving. If you hit it right on the net, it's gonna bounce weirdly.

You have to clear the net instead of rushing the net in front of a hopeful point to go on the other side. You don't get any cheap shots off that metal net. With all these added elements like the dust, coldness, and heat, it adds kind of toughness to your game. Like you have to anticipate much more before even things happen.

Play at the same level here; play at the same level there. Bryan Park definitely has an advantage, but I think it's fun. It's like playing Wimbledon; it's a different experience.

The people that come here are a community now, you know? You don't know what a person has in New York City. They can look like something and be a billionaire.

What makes these tables unique is that they don't ask for any money at all. And without that price, you get a lot of different kinds of people because there's no obligation to pay. You're just there with everybody else, you know? You have the guns working upstairs, making six figures; you have the guy here, the bike messenger, making one figure.

This guy gets a face-to-face meeting while this guy's making six figures, so you meet people who can help you in your future. I found a job, and I find opportunity in my life. You know, I have a place to stay. If I'm around, I have my dignity.

The park is stable; the park is here. It's not going anywhere. I know I haven't seen Gideon in a while since he went to school. Okay, it's live, obviously, here, I guess. And where does he show up at? When I first saw him, right here in Bryant Park.

I got a job. I'm a maintenance guy. I work Wednesday to Sunday, some in two days. I never get this cute ornament on this. That thing I love about Gideon is, for a young man, he's grounded very well. I feel good being around him, you know?

He always makes me feel better, especially when I was going through some tough times, and he helped me get through a lot of tough times. I don't even go out of his way to check on me, see if I was doing okay. Just really happy to see the guy, you know?

He's instrumental in keeping me an angel in my life. Helped, you know? For a young man, you know? Everything that I've got now in New Yorker, like all the success I've had—like somehow, all the people I've met, it comes from the tables. It's right over there. Like whenever I come out here, I feel like I'm just a regular guy, you know?

I'm not a soldier; I'm just the guy that's coming. I get to play ping pong and photography. We don't say, "I'm here." I'm still alive, and I'm somebody. It's a respite from the drama. You come here, you play ping pong, and everything else doesn't matter.

For the collage that you're here, I wouldn't know where I would go if I didn’t come here during the day. I don't know where to go. I see that it gives people a way. You found your heaven, you know? And I found my heaven.