Mrs. A has seen it all. Born in 1909 on Fort Washington Avenue between 168th and 169th Streets in Washington Heights. Served the military, housing some 500 Army volunteers (Fourth Brigade, 22nd Regiment). Housed tanks. Opened home to the city’s fastest runners, longest jumpers and swiftest hurdlers, starting in ’14. Expanded scope, from local to regional to the entire East Coast; throughout America; across the wider world. Stayed local. Never moved. Became an institution that stamped memories and won acclaim and challenged a running city built with Swoosh money in Oregon for track and field supremacy. Became known for copious splinters and marvelous sprinters. Gave floor burns. Fixed broken windows. Repaired leaking pipes. Exterminated unwanted insects. Helped shelter unhoused people. Confronted urban decay. Suffered from it, too. Endured wars, protests, neighborhood violence, drug epidemics, blackouts, recessions. Made history. Set records. Won deserved acclaim. Nearly went bankrupt. More than once. Decided, no more sports. Was disregarded. Criticized. Understaffed and overstuffed. Grew old. Wore down. Nearly died a thousand different deaths. Resuscitated in ’93, steered back to life by a mayor who cared about its impact on local youth and a good doctor who won the New York City Marathon in ’74. Vaccinated hundreds of thousands during the pandemic. Home to the occasional board exam.
Next January, Mrs. A will turn 115. If that sounds impossible, it’s because Mrs. A is actually a building, The Armory, a space that has been revered (mostly) and reviled (for its tenure as a men’s shelter). But Mrs. A, while technically a building, is that and more than that, far more than that. It’s a living, breathing, changing, inspiring, record-setting … thing. It’s walls come to life with history, making Mrs. A local institution for its neighborhood and an international destination for the track types.
Mrs. A made the National Register of Historic Places. She helped New Yorkers emerge from COVID-19 by hosting a record number of events in 2021 and ’22. This past January, she partnered with Nike for a transformed/transforming indoor track and field center. In October she will begin yet another season. And, while her track is no longer splintered, outdated or plain dangerous, it remains the main source of Mrs. A’s fame. She’s often dubbed The Fastest Track in the World.
