Residents celebrate life in Marble Hill

The music was blaring, children were playing and barbecues were blazing at the public housing along Broadway on Saturday. In other words, it was Marble Hill Day.

The annual event draws a number of past residents back to the neighborhood to join in the revelry with current tenants. Attendees also noted the party is a chance for individuals to get to know their neighbors at the 11 Marble Hill Houses.

“During the normal course of the year, a lot of the residents don’t really interact with each other,” said Tony Edwards, 55, the vice president of the Marble Hill Tenants’ Association, which helped organize the party. “It’s a way of trying to introduce new residents to the old ones.”

Sonia Vasquez, 32, appreciated the chance for her children to enjoy two moon bounces on the Marble Hill Houses’ wide, recently mowed lawn.

“They like it. They get to meet other kids from around here,” Ms. Vasquez said of her 3- and 8-year-old daughters. “They get to play together, play with friends, have some summer fun.”

A few paces away, former Marble Hill resident Kema Robinson, 25, was relaxing on a bench with her friend Iris Adams, 29, a current tenant. Smoke wafted from a nearby grill while Ms. Robinson recounted her upbringing in this neighborhood.

She said when she was a child, there were more activities at Marble Hill Day, like jump rope competitions.

Still, she added, “It’s always a good thing because you don’t really get to see these people throughout the year.”

While children and teens played basketball and baseball, community organizations including the Mosholou Montefiore Community Center and the Kingsbridge-Riverdale Farmers’ Market handed out information near one of Marble Hill’s playgrounds.

There was also a reminder of the pending end of summer and start of school, a table with free notebooks and other supplies from the Marble Hill Tenants’ Association.

“We want them to have a good attitude going into school and have good supplies that they need, as much as they can,” said Cecilia Santana, 57.