The Kingsbridge Heights community is working together with the city’s Parks Department and Project Backboard to raise funds to renovate Fort Four playground's basketball court.

The neighborhood is coming together to fix the basketball court they say suffers from unlevel ground and broken backboards.

For many, the court is a special place.

"I like to say that it holds a deep place in my heart, where I met my first friends, where I met my first girlfriend,” says community activist Joel Guerrero. 

For Guerrero, Fort Four Park is more than just a place to play.

"That's where we come together and for the first time we are in peace,” he says.

Guerrero says for him, the park is a place to escape and that is why he is leading the initiative to renovate it.

"If you notice, not just these parks but parks over the Bronx, people perceive them as the slums and we need to do a better job looking into what types of color and infrastructural changes to ignite more positive change,” says Guerrero.
 
Guerrero tells News 12 he is hopeful that by renovating the basketball court he has a shot at bringing life back to the community.

"This is a community effort and all members of the community donated $10 just to show they're part of this mission,” he says.

So far they've been able to raise over $8,000, but need $21,000 to fully make all of the improvements.

"If we can bring recreational events, we can get people out of trouble but we can give people purpose,” says Guerrero.