Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
NYPD Cracking Down On Rogue Chess Players
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 17, 2010
Modified Nov 17, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 17, 2010
Modified Nov 17, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
We've long maintained that chess is one of the least aggressive gentleman's sports, just a wee bit behind Horseshoes on the blood-and-sweat chart. Who could find fault in benign chess players? But no minor infraction is too small for the NYPD: according to DNAinfo, seven chess players are due in court this month after they were arrested in Inwood for the grave offense of playing chess...on chess boards...in a park...illegally! Hey, it's not like the NYPD have anything better to do.
The seven men were given summonses for being inside of Emerson Playground, a children's play area off limits to adults unaccompanied by minors. But the men were in an area filled with stone chess and backgammon tables, completely separated from the play area by a fence. Inwood residents were angry upon discovering what happened, because many of those ticketed were the same people who taught their children how to play chess in that very park over the past several years. "Crime is on the rise in the Inwood area according to the news and in addition to what we see and hear about in the neighborhood, is chess really something that should be considered a threat to the neighborhood?" one mother, whose 7-year-old son learned how to play chess there, wrote the 34th Precinct, the City Council, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Bloomberg (and presumably, President Obama, Spongebob Squarepants and Dick Van Dyke).
Captain Jose Navarro of the 34th Precinct told DNAinfo he had reviewed the ticket and stood by his officers giving the seven men summons for "Fail[ing] to comply with signs." "Under my direction, uniformed officers routinely enter the parks to enforce closing times and other regulations; all designed to protect the community," he wrote in an email. "There is a problem in this area with drug dealing, but the police have time to write tickets to people playing chess?" asked Yacahudah Harrison, 48, one of the men who was ticketed. Yeah, but the piece of the puzzle that everyone is ignoring is that this was a direct attack on chess as an institution—because everyone knows chess is a gateway drug to some seriously aggressive sports, such as Squash, Polo, and the pure evil that is Jai Alai.
Tagged
chess
cops
games
inwood
nypd
police
summons
tickets
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Police are still investigating bike crash that killed dad of 2 in Central Park
The family is raising money for the wife and two daughters he leaves behind.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Sep 29, 2026 at 9:31 a.m. ET
NYC has a plan to stop homeless people from cycling between hospitals and the streets
The Bridge to Home program, which began last year, will officially expand to Brooklyn on Tuesday.
By
Karen Yi
News
NYC has a plan to stop homeless people from cycling between hospitals and the streets
The Bridge to Home program, which began last year, will officially expand to Brooklyn on Tuesday.
By
Karen Yi
Early Addition: Billy Joel is auctioning off 70 of his motorcycles
By
James Ramsay
Man dragged to death by subway in Brooklyn after getting caught on closing doors
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Upper East Side braces for affordable housing fast track, and backlash from residents
By
David Brand
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .