MANY of the gray-haired patrons of Woodhaven Lanes bowling alley in Glendale, Queens, have bowled there since they could barely lift a bowling ball. Romances, friendships and competitive spirits have budded on its 60 lanes, and wedding pictures were once taken on Lanes No. 1 and 2. The bowling alley is a place where it’s not uncommon to hear someone earnestly declare, “Bowling is my life.”Today, after a mini-tournament tribute in the afternoon, the bowling alley will close, and its loyal customers dread the loss.
“When I walk in here, it’s like my family,” Al Arroyo, a 56-year-old auto mechanic and southpaw bowler, said during a three-strike streak on Lane No. 50 one recent Friday night. “Everybody knows me, and I know everybody. I’m like the mayor.”
Mr. Arroyo bowls at the alley five days a week, a cut back from what was once a daily regimen. “It bothers me a lot that it’s closing,” he said. “Where am I going to go?”
At the beginning of April, Brunswick Corporation, the company that has operated Woodhaven Lanes since 1966, announced that it would not renew its lease on the bowling alley. Fearing the loss of their beloved lanes, bowlers held two rallies in an effort to persuade the building’s owner, Woodhaven Realty, to keep a bowling alley on the property, but they were unsuccessful.
No one involved with the closing would discuss the matter in detail. But John LaSpina, who operates bowling alleys elsewhere in the metropolitan area and who unsuccessfully negotiated with Woodhaven Realty to take over the operation, noted that bowling alleys generally could not pay as much rent as large chains like Staples and Trader Joe’s, which are both located nearby.
Although the end was near, on this particular Friday night Woodhaven Lanes was still hopping. Nearly all the lanes echoed with the crash of wooden pins. Kings and Queens Bowlers, one of the dozens of leagues that have made Woodhaven Lanes their home and who have played there for over three decades, occupied nearly half those lanes.
Chris Vulpis, 43, a lifelong resident of nearby Maspeth, is a league member. For 18 years, she has dyed the same pair of bowling shoes with a new pink coating before every season. “It’s so sad,” Ms. Vulpis said as she gazed down at her shoes.
The mood wasn’t so glum, however, as to preclude a bit of excitement. On Lane 43, Ronnie Lofton, a 37-year-old wearing a black do-rag, was just one roll away from a perfect game. Word of his possible achievement had spread up and down the lanes, and a small crowd had gathered quietly behind him to watch the final roll.
The bowling ball hit the lane with a thud. The floor hummed as the ball spun toward its destination. “Go, Ronnie!” someone yelled. Eyes widened and breathing halted. Then, “Clack!”
It was a strike. The crowd cheered and showered the victor with high-fives, and a voice yelled, “That’s the way to go out — with a bang!”
