Father’s Day in Highbridge is about more than celebrating men with children. It is about the people of the neighborhood coming together to honor one another, connect with old friends, and have fun.

June 17 marked the 19th Annual Father’s Day celebration, an all-day long block party held on Nelson Avenue between 165th and 166th Streets, and in the adjacent Nelson Park. The event was sponsored by the Nelson Avenue Block Association and for the last few years has been specifically organized by longtime Highbridge resident Barbara Carey.

Last Sunday, a sound system played 60s Motown, soul, 80s pop and hip-hop. On the Nelson Park basketball court, a 35-and-over-team took on the younger residents of Highbridge. Barbecue grills were lined with fried sausages, hamburgers, and jerk chicken. 

“I love kids, and I love feeding people!” Carey said. “People get a good look on their face when their stomachs are full.”

Gerald Vailes Ramos, president of the Nelson Avenue Block Association, said the event was originally launched in the late 1980s as a way to help fathers struggling with drug addiction; the idea, he said, was to give addicts a special day to be part of something positive. Ramos said he recognized fathers at this year’s event this year who had fought addiction on their own, recovered, and were no longer using.

Many residents at the event spoke of fathers in Highbridge as peacemakers who worked to defuse conflicts that might arise in the neighborhood.  “These guys keep things protected,” Carey said. “They don’t let nothing happen to nobody here.”

Joseph Jenkins, foster care coordinator for the Bridge Builders, a child-welfare-advocacy group, enjoyed the festivities in Nelson Park.  A resident of Parkchester, Jenkins said that he hadn’t spent much time in Highbridge until he started working in the neighborhood in early 2005.

“As an outsider, it’s good to see the solidarity,” Jenkins said of the event. “As I walk around, nobody really knows me that much, but everybody’s saying ‘Happy Father’s Day.’”

A father of three children who wished to be identified as “Wise” said he had attended the annual Father’s Day celebration for about 15 years. “I’m proud to see other Black fathers like myself coming and doing the same thing every year,” Wise said.
Like many others in attendance, Wise said the celebration was a chance to see old friends, since even former Highbridge residents who had moved to places as far away as Georgia and North Carolina made the trip back for Father’s Day.

“Once you from Highbridge,” Wise said, “you always part of it.”