Orlando cracks down on Checker Park

Orlando City Hall is bringing down the hammer on Checker Park, a longtime popular hangout in Parramore.

Checker Park is on Parramore Avenue under the East-West Expressway. For years people – mostly men – have gathered there to play checkers and hang out. Some of the people frequenting the park are homeless – others are locals relaxing with friends.

Some residents have complained for years that people hung out all night at the park, and there have been problems with drinking and some drug deals.

Those complaints had not been seriously addressed by the city until now when gentrification hit Parramore with new expensive housing that is forcing many locals out of the area.

Now the Orlando City Commission and police are getting tough with new ordinances that have made it illegal for anyone to hang out at the park after sunset.

Those caught by police in Checker Park after sunset are subject to a $500 fine and 6 months in jail.

The city also changed the open hours for Z.L. Riley Park, which is a block away from Checker Park – also on Parramore Avenue. Up to now, that park closed 30 minutes before sunset.

Now that park will stay open until 8 p.m. Riley Park is directly across the street from the expensive apartment houses recently built on Parramore.

Within less than 3 years, gentrification has substantially changed Parramore forcing out many longtime black working-class residents and replacing them with younger and more affluent white people.