Swish House at NYC

New York City is regarded as the basketball Mecca. Nestled in its boroughs are some of the most famous courts in the world, and the city is home to streetball legends and NBA hall-of-famers. With its rich basketball history and culture, NYC is a perfect location for Swish House.

Swish House officially opened its first NYC location on April 15th , 2022 in Greenpoint, Brooklyn at The Post BK. “The Post” itself could be a character out of NYC’s hoops story, fitted with exposed brick walls and a scuffed, black hardwood floor. I opened the location with my friend Lakin (Lake) Roland - a current 3x3 professional hooper and a former overseas professional (England) with star accolades as both a Dartmouth player and assistant coach.

As word spread, Swish House Brooklyn quickly gained traction. We started getting approached by nationally recognized basketball brands, such as the NBA and Overtime, to host classes for their local offices. More importantly, the people who attended our classes during the first few months told their friends about the basketball community we were building in Brooklyn.

Before long, our Brooklyn location was getting 30-40 new members per week, which was exciting! To build on the momentum, we recruited more talented coaches to join us, namely Cy Lippold - another Dartmouth star and current assistant coach at Columbia University; Georgio Milligan – an All-American guard from Franklin & Marshall with a +10-year professional career overseas; and Zahir Carrington – an MVP during Lehigh’s 2010 Patriot League championship run and a current 3x3 professional player. We also added a new type of class that many members had asked about: a skills class.

Now, Swish House BK has become a place where members feel energized by reconnecting with their inner hooper. It also is a place where people can foster existing relationships and/or make new ones. There’s nothing that I love more than when two people, who didn’t know each other before class, attend a few classes together, decide to exchange numbers, and start signing up for the same classes so they can hoop together. Our goal at Swish House is to make people healthier and happier through basketball, and building an authentic community at each of our locations is integral to reaching that goal.

We’re well on our way with Swish House Brooklyn, and we’re excited about playing our part in rejuvenating the spirit of NYC basketball.

Paul Vitelli