The Newsletter
Winter 2010
This newsletter is a
quarterly
publication of
La Boule New
Yorkaise.
Member
contributions
welcome!
Petanque in New York
by Christian Turek
The 1950’s and early 1960’s were a lean time
for Alfred and New York pétanque while
Alfred would spend most days playing pétanque
and encouraging the people who stopped to
watch to learn. His efforts were only occasionally
successful, but his passion for the game persisted
and by the latter 1960’s his years of labor were
starting to bear fruit.
Send your petanque
articles and photos to In 1968 Alfred Levitt and his wife Gertrude founded both the local La Boule New
Lorissa at
Yorkaise (LBNY) and the national Federation of Pétanque USA (FPUSA). By this
[email protected] time Alfred had assembled a coterie of enthusiasts who played at the 106th St Central
Editor
Lorissa Rinehart
Design
Ernesto Santos
Lorissa Rinehart
Contributors
Christian Turek
Ernesto Santos
Park pistes (courts) which were, in fact, commandeered foot-paths. In 1973 LBNY
hosted its first tournament, held at the 106th St. Central Park pistes. But by this time
80 years old, Alfred wanted a location closer to his Greenwich Village home and one
that could serve as a visible public arena to promote pétanque in New York City.
In 1974 Alfred and LBNY started to play regularly in Washington Square Park. As in
Central Park, they used existing gravel paths.
For almost a decade LBNY and Alfred played on the gravel paths just southeast
of the arch in Washington Square Park, and drew a lot of interest. The Greenwich
Village of the 70’s was as vibrant as it is today, and pétanque was quirky and unusually enough to fit in the neighborhood that spawned Bob Dylan, Blondie and the
Ramones. But playing on walking paths has its disadvantages, not least of which is
pedestrians. While the NYC Parks & Recreation Department had been generous, they
were not munificent enough to prevent other denizens of New York from walking
around, and occasionally through, what the LBNY players considered to be their
pathways.
petanque continued
Clearly another solution was
in order. So Alfred cast about
looking for a benefactor, some
sort of a sponsor to help him
build a court dedicated to pétanque. After much searching
and deliberation, an obvious solution arose: the local institution
of higher education and culture
New York University.
After some negotiation Alfred
secured a surprisingly-large
grant of $10,000 to build three
pétanque courts in Washington
Square Park, and the Parks &
Recreation Department granted
LBNY space south of their
previous location, just East of
the central West Fourth Street
Entrance to the park. Using
this money and his own hands,
as well as the labor of numerous LBNY members, Alfred
laid bricks as a foundation built
three sand-covered courts.
No longer a personal passion,
LBNY was now an institution.
Got Pictures?
A Letter from the President
Not long ago when I joined La Boule New Yorkaise — in 2004 or so — the
petanque scene in New York City was in Washington Square Park. Those 2 sandy courts provided room enough to squeeze in 5 games. Thirty people playing
at the same time, a mix of old-time members and new ones like myself. This is
where Yngve introduced me to the game, as he did to so many others; where
Joe Betro dished out petanque wisdom in his own irreverent ways; where Hery
showed how creative this game could be played. This was the park of Hans and
Ti, of Jerry and Nellie, of Lucien and Carlos.
Back then Bryant Park was still in my mind a far and out-of-the-way place. We
had use of half the current lesson area, on which we had lessons only a couple
of times a week and only during lunch hours. (Checking back on the records we
found that Carlos Cubillos was our first instructor.) And the monthly tournaments. That’s how I was really introduced to Bryant Park. The gravel path
around lawn gave fits to anyone used to playing in the sand of Washington
Square Park. It was so fast and so hard to shoot on — and still is.
In a few years Bryant Park had given us the rest of the lessons’ terrain, increased the lessons to lunch hour every weekday, and finally last year to 7 hours
— essentially all day. And the tournaments got bigger and better. In 2006 more
than 10 Canadian teams came down for the Coupe des Ameriques. The ideas
for the Madagascar (later renamed the Hery) Open and the New York Open
took shape, with the latter drawing in 32 teams yearly. All our tournaments now
would be held in Bryant Park. And this is how petanque imprinted itself into
the fabric of Bryant Park.
We knew we would be temporarily losing Washington Square Park. And another
club would form in Brooklyn. Some still play petanque in Flushing Meadows.
Occasionally you will find players in Central Park, along the bridle path. And
once a year a big petanque block party takes place on Smith Street, Brooklyn.
Finally this fall, Washington Square Park will return with a nicer but smaller
terrain. It will never be the same of course. For some of us Washington Square
Park will always be the heart of our club. But Bryant Park has now become the
hub of petanque in New York City.
Thanks to our club members and all those who travel from near and far to play,
petanque in Bryant Park is bigger than any one person. Its a place where everyone can play. Happy holidays and see you next spring.
Do you want your name in
bright lights? Well, we all do,
-Ernesto Santos
but if you want your photos
featured in the next LBNY
Newsletter, send ‘em to Lorissa
at [email protected]
The Yearly Round-Up
by Lorissa Rinehart
People always talk about how fast a New York minute can be, but you never really know how fast it really is until
one passes you by. It seems like this whole season has passed by in that nano-time increment attributed to our fair
city. But it was a good one.
Here’s a quick re-cap of everything (or at least a lot) of what went on:
Singles –September 19, 2010
This tournament of bragging rights was held on a blustery September day when history was
bound to repeat itself. In the semi-finals New York Petanque’s Jean-Pierre Subrenat rallied to
win over Mamary “Mo” Couli-Baly and Ibrahim played a perfected game against Yngve Biltsted
to reach the finals. Ibrahim took an early lead in the finals against JPS. But with a score of 10-10,
JPS pulled two carreaux out and pointed his third for the win.
Henry Open - June 15, 2010
Ti at the Henry Open
LBNY’s 3rd annual Henry Open went off without a hitch, except for
a little rain. But then again, it was June in New York. In the first game
of the concord, Richard “Ti” Meas, Ernesto Santos, and Phil Hemery
beat Malek, Jeannot Ruperti, and Gilles Ray. The rain came, but didn’t
bother the juggernaut that was Team Ti who beat national champion
Xavier Thibaud, national champion Eric Bertin, and Christophe
Chambers in the semi-finals. On the other side of the lawn, Mamary
“Mo” Couli-Baly, Loi Nguyen, and Tiana Rarivoson matched
up against Joseph Hassoune, Charles Kossi, and Hocine Ameur in the quarterfinals, with Team Mo moving onto
beat Emile Boujeke, Ibrahim Adiho, and Lucien Rakotojaona in the semifinal.
The finals had the crowd on the edge of their seats with Team Mo opening up an early lead of 5- 9, and it looked
like Team Ti had finally lost their steam. But is often the case when he’s down, Ti reached deep and pulled a couple
of carreaus out of the bag, and Phil took the cochonnet back with his superb pointing. Ernesto, playing in the
middle, remained consistent and the end result was another victory for Team Ti, with 13-9 as the final score.
Summer Tourney - August 1, 2010
This year’s Summer Tourney was fun for all, especially Bruce, who just coming off his stellar performance at Bastille Day, was ready to go. And he went
all the way to the finals with partner Ti, where they met Gilles and Lorissa.
Bruce pointed well, and Ti shot his regular tiger style to the same effect - hitting everything. But Gilles and Lorissa kept on keeping on for a close win of
13 - 11.
Bruce at the Summer Tourney
New York Open - October 10, 2010
La Boule’s premier tournament of the year did not disappoint with over
twenty teams with players from the France, Germany, Canada, New York,
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Florida – quite the line-up.
The competition was tough with upsets and long shots abounding. But in
the end, Richard “Ti” Meas and Phil Hemery matched up against Jean-Pierre
Hemery and Joseph Hassoune. Though Joseph delivered his trademark uberplombees to great effect, they were no match Ti’s tiger-shooting style.
Ernesto at the NY Open
Likewise Hemery Sr. shot an almost perfect game, but Hemery Jr. answered back with point after point. After a
well played game by all, Ti and Phil prevailed with a 13-3 win.
In the main-event consolunts, Mamary “Mo” “Hakuna-Matata” Couli-Baly and Loi Nguyen played
Pierre Le Goff and Dr. Valerie Fleschet in a close game that Mo and Loi eeked out for the win. In Consolation A,
Lucien and Kate Brideau prevailed over Christophe Chambers and Gilles Ray.
Consolation B saw a perfect game from one Ms. Carmen Converse, who shot the cuchennete out at 13 meters to
save the game and came back with her partner, Jason Cheek to win over Lorissa Rinehart and Patrick Hayes.
Florida, Ameilia Island Pentanque
America Open - November 14 -15, 2010
For its second year, the Amelia Island Petanque
America Open proved to be a fun and challenging
competition – but with LBNY even better represented
this year than last, it was bound to be both. Ernesto
Santos teamed up again with Lorissa, Yngve and Lyla
Bilsted made the flight, as did Lucian who played with
Sonoma’s very own Barbara Hall, Rookie of the Year
Patrick came down, and Joseph and Jean-Pierre teamed
up again after there fantastic showing at the New York
Open.
The gang’s all here
After handily winning all 5 of their qualifier games, Ernesto and Lorissa moved on to the main event, winning their
first game. In their second match against former Canadian champs, Jean-Michel Lauhle and Stephane St. Croix,
they started slow giving their opponents a 1-8 lead. Rallying back, they pulled up to tie, but couldn’t quite make it
all the way with a final score of 9-13. Yngve and Leyla Biltsted showed them how it’s down in Washington Square,
placing second in Concours AA. Everyone then proceeded to the bar and had a great time.
News & Notables
This cartoon by Steve Brooder
appeared in the August 2, 2010
issue to the New Yorker. Can
you guess who’s who?
National Public Radio, NPR came by Bryant Park this last July to interview a couple of club members about the game and LBNY. President
Ernesto Santos told them about the diveristy of our club saying, “It’s
really the makeup of New York City. There are bankers, playing in their
suits, with delivery guys and firemen and when there is a lot of construction across the street, we had a lot of construction workers playing.”
We’ll Miss You Jason!
La Boule New Yorkaise
7 E 3rd St. Apt 24
New York, NY 11385
www.labouleny.com
[email protected]
LBNY Board of Directors
Much loved LBNY member, fantastic player, and
great teacher, Jason Cheek is moving to North
Carolina this winter. This year, Bryant Park sent
Jason a letter of appreciation for all his great work
teaching lessons. From all of us at LBNY, best of
luck, keep in touch, and we’ll see you on the court
sometime soon!
Ernesto Santos, President
Ralph Westerhoff, Vice President
Yngve Bilsted, Treasurer
Chris Artis, Secretary
Bruce Janovsky
Amadou Thaim
Lorissa Rinehart
Raja Harb