They had a goofball!
Funnyman Tracy Morgan returned to his native Bedford-Stuyvesant this week to snip the opening-day ribbon at a pair of revamped basketball courts in the neighborhood’s Marcy Playground.
And debuting the spruced-up hoops in the green space where he once shed his own sweat and tears as a youngster made for a sweet homecoming, according to the famous comedian.
“I actually cut my finger once on a glass bottle here, and the blood I spilled on the court was for these kids,” Morgan said. “This is for Brooklyn. It makes me so happy.”
Television network Turner Broadcasting System and bigwigs at its new series “The Last O.G.” — in which the “Saturday Night Live” alum stars as a Kings County–born ex-con named Tray, who, after 15 years in prison, is released to find his borough newly gentrified — handed $215,000 to the Parks Department to fully fund the renovation of the courts, which hadn’t been fixed in a decade.
The cash covered laying new asphalt, installing fresh backboards, and the painting of a mural designed by artist Askew One, according to information from the agency.
Morgan, who grew up in the public Marcy Houses next door to the park, celebrated the opening day on Tuesday with several local officials, including Bedford-Stuyvesant Councilman Robert Cornegy, Parks Department chief Mitchell Silver, and Borough President Adams — who shared a warm embrace with the guest of honor, and thanked him for not forgetting where he came from.
“Brooklyn is proud to welcome back one of its most famous sons, and we’re even prouder that he’s giving back in a real way to the community that raised him,” Adams said.
