Lost Battallion hall

It’s a standard NYC Parks Department rec center. They have a basketball court and a weight room as well as some programs for senior citizens. They even have a boxing course. Just one caveat: there’s no shower. So after a long workout, you can ride home on the subway sweating and smelly.
Lost Battallion is cheaper than the NYC Parks Department Centers with a pool, but just pay the money and go to a center with a shower and a pool. I used to workout here before I moved on to the East 54 Street rec center in Manhattan.

I’ve only played basketball here so this review is only about basketball. They offer a bunch of other stuff too. The court is in good condition, decent grip, they’ve kept it clean enough to play safely. A guy there told me the floor used to be really slippery before they refurbished it. I hope this floor holds up. The courts do overlap which can be dangerous but there’s not much you can do to fix that other than taking some hoops away or doubling the size of the gym. They play ball Thursday nights (insanely crowded, similar to that scene in «Scarface» when they were playin ball in Freedom Town), and Saturday afternoons (much less crowded, sometimes it’s even empty). There’s all levels of competition but there aren’t many people who just started learning to play, which is good. Newbies should not be playing in a crowded high intensity environment. Especially if they’re big strong athletic dudes who get emotional when they get embarrassed. That’s how you get flagrant fouls everywhere and guys running into your knees for a loose ball. They don’t know what’s dangerous and what’s not. I’ve seen that at a lot of other rec centers but not here. The center in Flushing is full of these guys combined with a slippery court, your just asking to get hurt. The staff tends to turn off the lights like 10 mins early to get people to leave, not cool. Be careful with the schedule on their website. It’ll say something like «Basketball today 2:30 — 5:00» until you click somewhere else that’ll say «except the first Saturday of the month». That’s the web designers fault. They could easily put that info in the same line instead of a separate page. Yes I checked the site one day and drove in just to be sent back home. Within the 5 mins I was there asking the staff to explain to me how to read this tricky online schedule at least 3 other groups of guys came to play ball too. I’m sure the staff hate that online schedule just as much.