Publicity

From City Parks, Chess Tables For Your Patio

By T. Edwards Phillips

It’s not often that a city park serves as a furniture showroom. But Concrete Classics is banking that visitors to more than 400 New York City parks equipped with concrete chess and checkers tables will want an authentic piece of the city for their homes. The company is now selling the tables to the public.

The tables are such a part of the city fabric as to be almost invisible. Brothers and company founders Noah and Josh Levine found inspiration from their parents.

The elder Levines saw one of the chess tables in Battery Park in Lower Manhattan. They were searching for a table for the backyard of their Long Island home and thought it would be a perfect, if novel, solution. Fortunately the manufacturer’s name was printed on the table. After a few phone calls they had one installed in their home and their sons saw and opportunity.

The Bronx-based Londino Stone Company has made chess and checkers tables for the New York City Parks Department since the 1950s. “They hadn’t even considered selling this to the public,” Josh Levine said. The brothers convinced the company to make a freestanding version and give them an exclusive contract.

Green and white terrazzo tiles that are bordered by inlaid brass form the checkerboard within a 32-inch square tabletop. The 32-inch high tables are made of steel-reinforced concrete and designed to withstand the elements and even a stray crow bar. A high concentration of white marble in the concrete gives the tables their light color and polish. The concrete is poured into a mold and then the edges are machine-smoothed.

Some assembly is required, and it’s definitely not a one-person job – the tabletop weighs 260 pounds and the base weighs 190 pounds. The top has to be placed atop the base and fastened with a bolt. Anyone who wants the fixed version, like those in the parks, would need to hire a contractor to pour the concrete into the ground.

“For the city Parks Department this is not a big job, but for a private person it is,” said Londino manager Tom Vitkowski. “It’s still concrete. It’s a forever table.”

The fixed table is priced at $1950 and the freestanding version is $2050. Optional concrete stools are available for $250 a pair.

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