By Howard Koplowitz
A year after Maurice Parker was shot to death on Bowne Street, friends and residents honored the 21-year-old from Flushing with some shots of their own — on the basketball court.
More than 200 people gathered at the PS 20 playground to participate in or watch the Maurice Parker Basketball Memorial Classic, held to counter the gun violence that took Parker's life as he stood outside the El Boom Deli and Convenience Store on Bowne Street on May 18, 2007.
“It really is just to bring the community together around a positive event that would pay tribute to Maurice,” said the Rev. Nicholas Genevieve-Tweed, pastor of Flushing's Macedonia African Episcopal Church, who presided over Parker's funeral and was a sponsor of the non-competitive tournament.
The games were held in memory of Parker, an aspiring rapper known as Moe Greazy to friends because he was a smooth talker, who enjoyed playing basketball, especially at the PS 20 playground.
He was murdered for reasons unknown to those close to him.
Although the killing was believed to have been committed by the notorious El Salvadorian gang MS-13, Parker had no gang affiliations. Friends said he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“He wasn't about the nonsense,” said one of Parker's friends who wanted to be identified as Fangs.
Another friend, Jonathan Rivera, said Parker “was very well-liked in the community. If you had a bad day, he'd make you feel good.”
Martha Flores-Vasquez, a Democratic district leader who knew Parker and runs a nonprofit called Community Prevention Alternatives for Families in Crisis, said 28 teams participated in the daylong tournament.
Flores-Vasquez said gang violence is still an issue in Flushing a year after Parker's death. She said residents should be aware of one gang initiation rite that involves a prospective gang member bumping into a car as the victims leave a parking spot.
She said the target risks being stabbed or shot if they get out of their car to complain.
“We're still trying to deliver the message that this park is for the children,” she said, referring to PS 20. “They should not be intimidated by gang violence.”
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
