 | |
| Founded | 2017 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Ian Clarke |
| Focus | Skateboarding |
| Location | |
| Website | http://sk8coalition.nyc/ |
NYC Skateboard Coalition, established in 2017, is a community organization that advocates for New York City's skateparks and hosts NYC-based skateboard events. [1] The NYC Skateboard Coalition supports the skateboarding community of New York City through hosting skate jams and skatepark clean-ups throughout the city. [2] [3] [4] [5] [1]
In the early 2010s, Ian Clarke, a local skater at Riverside Skatepark, learned about the history of Andy Kessler and Riverside Skatepark from Ricky Mujica. [6] [7] The history and significance of the skatepark made an impression on Clarke. [8] There was a small mini-ramp at the park that was falling apart at the skatepark, reaching out to the Riverside Park Conservancy, Clarke led a permitted repair of the mini-ramp, saving it from destruction. [8] [9] After receiving positive response from the community, Clarke developed a relationship with the Riverside Park Conservancy, working to repair other obstacles in the skatepark with help from members of the community. [9] This community work at Riverside Skatepark inspired Clarke to create the NYC Skateboard Coalition to formalize his organizing efforts in the skateboarding community. [10]
NYC Skateboard Coalition is home to the NYC Pool Series, a skate event series taking place in skateparks throughout the city. [4] The NYC Pool Series contributors include Ali Axelrod, organizing and ground crew, Jon "Pork Chop" Nicholson, DJ, and Andrew Gelles, Emcee. [4] Sponsors include a spread of brands and companies including Uncle Funky's Skateshop, Substance Skatepark, Housewife skateboards, Juice Magazine, Trophy griptape, Blake Sandberg's Severed Leg Productions, and many more. [4]
After building a relationship with the Riverside Park Conservancy with the ramp repairs, the coalition was asked if it wanted to host events at the park. [11] The NYC Skateboard Coalition held a Riverside Skate Jam at Riverside Skatepark from 2013 to 2018, stopping due to the concrete remodeling of the skatepark. [12] The coalition has plans to resume the Skate Jam when the remodel is finished. [13] [12]
In 2020, the NYC Skateboard Coalition, with help from Aaron Aniton, spearheaded a renaming of the Riverside Skatepark to Andy Kessler Skatepark to honor the advocacy work Kessler did in his life for the skateboarding community. [6] [9]
The coalition worked with NYC Parks Dept to get repairs done to Owls Head Skatepark in 2017. [14]
Since its inception, the coalition has participated in skatepark clean-ups, a meet-up where a group of civic-minded skaters, often joined by non-skaters and family, get together and clean-up a skatepark. [15] Beginning informally in the mid-2010s at Riverside Skatepark, the skate coalition now hosts N.Y.C Department of Parks and Recreation approved clean-ups throughout New York City. [16] The organization has cleaned up at the following NYC skateparks:
In 2020, Partnership for Parks recognized the NYC Skateboard Coalition at the It's My Park Awards Reception, awarding the coalition for "Outstanding Service, Activism, and Collaboration" for its work cleaning up at Golconda Skate Park led by Clarke and Casey Appledorn. [1]
Andrew Kessler was a Greek-born American skateboarder, skatepark builder, and prominent member of a loose-knit collective of skateboarders and graffiti artists called the Soul Artists of Zoo York. Kessler is featured in the documentary Deathbowl to Downtown.
Playground 52 is a 1.8-acre (0.73 ha) playground at 681 Kelly Street in the Longwood neighborhood of the Bronx, in New York City. The playground features basketball and handball courts, bathrooms, a spray shower, and a skate park. as well as an amphitheater with a large dance floor.
Juice Magazine, founded in 1993 in Wilmington, North Carolina, is a skateboarding, surfing and music publication, edited, owned and published by Terri Craft. It includes interviews by skate editor, Jim Murphy, and features editors: Steve Olson, Jay Adams, Dave Duncan, Christian Hosoi, Jim O'Mahoney, and surf editors Jeff Ho, Herbie Fletcher and Dibi Fletcher. The staff includes Terri Craft, editor and Dan Levy, assistant editor. Other interviewers include Jason Jessee, Jeff Ament, Chuck Dukowski, Bill Danforth and Chris Mearkle. There are currently 76 issues of the magazine. Juice Magazine headquarters is located in the birthplace of modern-day skateboarding, Venice, California.
Coleman Playground is a public park on the border between the Chinatown and Lower East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City.
A list of skateparks in New York City.
A skate shop or skateshop is a store that sells skateboards and skateboarding apparel. When financially possible, skate shops sponsor local riders and promote skateboarding locally through skate videos and demonstrations, referred to as "demos".
Steve Rodriguez is a goofy-footed American skateboarder, skate company owner, skatepark designer, community organizer, and creative services director, who lives and skates in NYC. Rodriguez is a leader in the effort to restore the iconic New York City skate spot: the Brooklyn Banks, a place where Rodriguez spent much time skateboarding. Until it closed for construction in 2010, Rodriguez hosted skate contests at the Banks.
Millennium Skate Park, also known as Owl's Head Skate Park, is a skate park in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, located in Owl's Head Park, adjacent to the Sunset Park Greenway.
Golconda Skate Park, known as Fat Kid, is a public skate park in the Downtown Brooklyn/Fort Greene neighborhoods of Brooklyn, New York City, that originated as a DIY skate spot. Built under the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, the 18,000 square foot professionally built skate park was completed in 2016 and sits within Golconda Playground.
Martin "Marty" Maher is the Brooklyn Parks Commissioner for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, assuming the office in 2017.
Andy Kessler Skatepark formerly Riverside Skatepark is a skatepark located in Riverside Park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. Riverside Skatepark is notable as the first full-sized public skatepark in Manhattan, designed and built by renowned skateboarder and skatepark builder Andy Kessler.
Pier 62 Skatepark is a public skatepark located in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The skatepark, which opened in 2010, is located in Hudson River Park on Pier 62 overlooking the Hudson River. Pier 62 Skatepark is notable as it is the only modern full size vert concrete transition skatepark in New York City.
Mark "Monk" Hubbard was a skateboarder, artist, skatepark builder, and founder of Grindline Skateparks.
The Wounded Knee 4-Directions Toby Eagle Bull Memorial Skatepark, also known as the Toby Eagle Bull Memorial Wounded Knee Four Directions Skate Park & the WK4-Directions TEB Memorial Skatepark, is a concrete skatepark located in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, United States, on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Completed in 2011 by the local community with help from skateboarding organizations, the skatepark features a spectrum of skate obstacles and is dedicated to a young Lakota skater who died in a car accident: Toby Eagle Bull. The WK4D TOB Memorial Skatepark is located in the Youth Opportunity, or "YO," park, adjacent to the Oglala Lakota Nation powwow grounds, a picnic area, a playground, a basketball court as well as a baseball field.
James Murphy is an American skateboarder, writer, artist, skateboard company owner, and skateboarding activist.
A skate spot is a location used for skateboarding.
A skateboarding organization is an organization that advocates for skateboarding and the skateboarding community.
The Stronghold Society is a non-profit organization that advocates for skateboarding with a focus on creating and sustaining skateparks in Native American communities.
Patrick Smith or Pat Smith is an American fabricator, carpenter, skateboard ramp builder, skate community contributor, professional skateboarder and skate company owner who lives and works in New York City.
Walt Pourier is an American skateboarder, artist, designer, and skateboarding activist. Pourier is Oglala Lakota.