Having been forced to shutter initially when the statewide shutdown took effect in March 2020, prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, the once popular Van Nest Lanes bowling alley has since closed its doors for good, It had served the community for over 50 years.

 

Workers began dismantling the Van Nest Lanes, located at 1756 Bronxdale Avenue in the Morris Park section of the borough, once it became clear the business wouldn’t survive following the shutdown of 2020.

 

On Saturday, Sept. 25, workers were observed carting out tables and lockers, and more recently, were seen tearing up concrete in order to remove the original hardwood floors that many bowling alleys today no longer use.

Bernadette Ferrara, president of the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance said of the bowling alley’s closure, “Van Nest Lanes was an iconic business that had all the leagues playing there. It was used in three or four films.” Ferrara, who has bowled at Van Nest since she was 11 years old, added, “The floors are all original wood, which other [bowling] lanes do not have… So sad that COVID killed so many great places like this.”

 

Al D’Angelo, president of the Morris Park Community Association added, “It’s been a staple in the neighborhood for years. It gave people a place to go without leaving the community. You had leagues, many of the parents who live in the community belonged to leagues at the Van Nest Lanes and now, as you look around, most of the lanes are closed.”

D’Angelo continued, “This was a neighborhood staple, and it will be sorely missed, and they [the owners] were very good for the community. They donated to everything the community did…very community minded. They had bowling for kids, bowling for adults. It’s a big loss.”

 

The Van Nest Lanes was also a shooting location for three major motion pictures: the 2007 film “American Gangster,” starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe, the 2012 film “Men in Black 3,” starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, and the 2019 film “The Irishman,” starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino.

 

With the closure of the Van Nest Lanes, it’s believed that just two bowling alleys remain in the Bronx, the Gun Post Lanes on East Gun Hill Road in the Laconia section of the borough, and Bowlerland on Hollers Avenue in Co-Op City.

 

Norwood News reached out to the owners of Van Nest Lanes bowling alley to ask if they had applied for relief from any of the government relief programs which were implemented amid the pandemic to help businesses survive the shutdown. We did not receive an immediate response.