A new kind of city pitch
In the heart of Astoria, Queens, one of New York’s most diverse and dynamic neighborhoods, there’s a place where football lives, breathes, and never really stops. Not in a park or a stadium, but high above the streets.
The Upper 90 Soccer Center has transformed an ordinary city rooftop into a four-pitch football complex, complete with a café, event spaces, and one of the largest soccer retail stores in Queens. Here, kids and adults, beginners and veterans, gather to play the world’s game surrounded by the city skyline.
The message is clear: in New York, space is limited, but passion is infinite.
Where the city comes to play
Upper 90’s rooftop complex features four turf pitches, each built for 5-a-side play. The layout is efficient and full of energy, tight games, quick passes, and constant movement. Around the fields, netting and low boards keep the ball in play while creating an arena-like atmosphere.
A short flight of stairs leads players to the Crossbar Café, a warm, urban lounge overlooking the action. Here, coffee cups and conversation mix with the sound of goals and laughter. Parents watch their kids play, office teams unwind after work, and local leagues fill the nights with competition and community.
Beneath the fields, the Upper 90 retail store anchors the complex, part equipment shop, part clubhouse. Jerseys hang alongside boots, and staff talk tactics as much as they sell shoes. It’s a hybrid space where sport, culture, and commerce merge naturally, the true “home of soccer in Astoria.”
Built for the city, not outside it
Traditional sports facilities often sit on the city’s outskirts, but Upper 90 flipped that model upside down. By building up, not out, they proved that football can thrive within the urban core.
The design is as pragmatic as it is bold. Lightweight turf systems keep roof loads low. Safety netting ensures no ball — or player — ever goes astray. LED floodlights extend play well past sunset, while sound barriers keep neighborhood life undisturbed.
More importantly, the location makes it accessible. In Queens, one of the most densely populated boroughs of New York, families and young professionals don’t have to drive an hour for a match — they can walk, bike, or take the subway.
In a city that measures space in square feet, Upper 90 created something much bigger: a sense of belonging..
“In Queens, the game never stops, it just moved upstairs.”
The social heartbeat of Astoria
It’s not just a place to play; it’s a place to connect. On any evening, the rooftop buzzes with overlapping rhythms — Spanish, Greek, Bengali, English — as different communities meet through a common language: the game. Local leagues bring together players from every corner of the city. Youth academies teach technique and teamwork to the next generation. Pick-up games run late into the night under the lights. The facility hosts birthday parties, fundraisers, and charity tournaments, small events that, collectively, make a big impact.
Inside the café, a wall of windows overlooks the pitches. Parents sip coffee, friends cheer from bar stools, and conversations drift easily between goals and laughter. It’s pure New York energy, multicultural, spontaneous, and full of motion
More than a game
Upper 90’s rooftop doesn’t just solve a space problem; it reimagines what sport can mean in a modern city. It’s football as infrastructure, community, and lifestyle combined.
The project embodies three essential principles of urban vitality:
Efficient use of space. By activating the rooftop, the building itself becomes a sports platform, no extra land required.
Accessibility and inclusion. Everyone, regardless of background or age, has a place to play.
Everyday vitality. Instead of occasional recreation, movement becomes part of daily life.
In an era when many urban children grow up disconnected from outdoor play, facilities like this bring the joy of sport back into the neighborhood fabric.
The rhythm of the city
There’s a certain poetry to playing football here. The air carries the hum of traffic below and the cheers from the rooftop above. The Manhattan skyline glows in the distance as players weave through tight spaces and shout for the ball.
It’s five-a-side football — fast, loud, improvised — the perfect reflection of New York itself. And when the match ends, players head downstairs for pizza, a beer, or a browse through the latest boots. The transition from sport to social life is effortless.
A model for future cities
Urban planners often speak of “reclaiming space.” Upper 90 shows what that means in real life. With creativity and smart engineering, a rooftop once meant for nothing became a vertical playground that unites a community.
Imagine if every borough — or every city — had spaces like this. Car parks, warehouses, or office blocks could double as venues for sport, health, and human connection.
Cities don’t have to choose between density and vitality. Projects like this prove that, with imagination, they can have both.
The Upper 90 Soccer Center is more than four small football fields, it’s a symbol of how cities can turn limitation into opportunity. It redefines what “playing locally” means in an urban century.
By bringing the world’s game to the rooftops of Queens, it gives New York a new way to move, connect, and celebrate community, one goal at a time.