Parkour Fans Take Leap in Fort Tryon Park

Parkour Fans Take Leap in Fort Tryon Park

October 26, 2011 10:00am

click to see all pictures (10 photos)

Will Fernandez,16, goes through his personal set of 'Parkour' drills during practice in Fort Tryon Park in Washington Heights. (DNAinfo/Paul Lomax)

By Paul Lomax

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — The opening sequence of the movie "Casino Royale" left fans mesmerized. Daniel Craig, as James Bond,  ran, somersaulted and leapt his way through construction sites and across a high-rise crane to catch the bad guy.

But the acrobatics aren't limited to 007.

Uptown stunt junkies are practicing the freestyle running sport of Parkour at Fort Tryon Park in Washington Heights.

Local youths — or traceurs as they're called in the sport's lingo — meet at Linden Terrace in Upper Manhattan every week to of scale nine foot walls, leap from ledge to ledge over 15 foot drops, and run at high speed to maintain their balance.

The group is part of NYParkour (NYPK), a community based organization that has helped spread the principles and popularity of the sport since its inception in 2005.

Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/20111026/washington-heights-inwood/parkour-fans-take-leap-fort-tryon-park?utm_content=chiefcharley472%40gmail.com&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=Parkour%20Fans%20Take%20Leap%20in%20Fort%20Tryon%20Park&utm_campaign=Ghostly%20Haunts%20in%20Your%20Neighborhoodcontent#ixzz1bu2AEFf9