New York Street Games

New York Street Games captures a special time in American history. From Boxball to Ring-o-leavio to Skully, the film addresses the social and cultural importance of these games and the sense of community they engendered.

Long before television and video games gave New York City kids the option of disappearing into alternate worlds for hours on end, the best option for passing the time and burning off energy was to hit the street for a game of stickball. In this documentary, narrator Hector Elizondo takes viewers back to a time when the city streets echoed with the sounds of laughing children, and games like Punchball, Skully, and Jonny on a Pony helped instill youngsters and their parents with a very real sense of community. In addition to offering a nostalgic glimpse into a bygone era, NEW YORK STREET GAMES also explores the potential reasons urban adolescents no longer partake in the simple joys of games like Stick Ball, as well as the potential effects that today's more introverted forms of entertainment may be having on both their behavior, and our shifting social structures.