Caught the premiere of that docu-flick about the history of skateboarding in NYC. There was footage from the 70s roots of guys finding pools in the Bronx to the first developments of SHUT and later ZOO YORK to the present. Overall good stuff, but there seemed to be a gap of info from the mid-90s that was the most influential for me. Whatever.
There were so many spots we used to rip from the "humps" to the the "birdshit banks" that have since been leveled. The WTC bombing in the mid-90s was the beginning of the end. Downtown became more policed. The small banks turned into a NYPD parking lot. And a grip of the spots we used to skate in Tribeca, Wall Street, & Seaport regularly became skate stopped or a complete bust. A migration occurred to the surrounding areas like the benches at South Street Seaport and a new section north that was dubbed "Newport" which launched the careers of Wenning & Pappalardo. I could go on and on. Wish the vid guys would take these years into consideration as it was an influential time in skateboarding such as the Lockwood picnic table era in the World/ GIRL videos. Fast Forwarding from 1992 to 2008 is a pretty big f'n gap. Not to mention the after effects of f'n 9-11? Come on guys, put the bong down and open a book.
However, there was a interesting element through the drama about the study of Urban Planning and the change in development of architecture of Manhattan from the 70s to the present. Different legislation led to the development or more urban plazas and subsequently more spots. With that change there were different booms in skating.
There was good direction in the film then it kind of fell flat and it seemed like I was watching a 5BORing promo video. No offense Steve, but I can pick up a SLAP for that bullshit. Unecessary. Yeah, and who chose Chloe Sevigny as the narrator? Yeah, she was a NASA club kid turned Hollywood star but whatevs.
My favorite section was the footage of the late 80s visit of Mark Gonzales rocking the Vision Street Wear gear. I remember hearing about it and freaking out. Back then there was no 411 nor YouTube, so seeing regular clips of skating was not happening. It rewinded me back to when the Hell Tour came to Westwood, New Jersey. F'n Rocco, Gonz, Natas, a young Mike Vallely, Jesse Martinez as well as the pre-SHUT team of NIMBUS skateboards. It was retarded.
We had a heated jump ramp session the day before and I had the unfortunate snapping of my freshly set-up SMA Natas Kitty- Stained wood grain with lemon Freeze Streets. I had anticipated getting it autographed and everything. My only other set-up was a fucking Rodney Mullen freestyle kit. So there I was, demo of the century trying to follow my heroes around the streets of NJ on a freestyle board. I felt like such a fag. The skate from the shop to demo ended in a K-Mart parking lot with a single jump ramp. They were going off without one single early grab air. Ollies to fakie, Ollies from the back in, and random destruction of all the benches and parking blocks. I witnessed Gonz sessioning the parking lot lines. He chose the handicap parking spot as a gap and proceeded to snap tricks over it. At the time we had not seen anything ollied that big, so it opened doors for our skating. I remember talking about the demo for weeks and hearing diff stories from all my friends. It's funny though. He was one of my favorite skaters at the time but I kinda hated on the geometry of his boards and never actually owned one.
We skipped the after-party and headed over to POP BURGER. It's been about 2 years since my last visit, so I was more than eager to get my grub on. 2 perfect mini-burgers per serving, some cokes, and some shakes; it's good shit.
12 burgers, 3 Cokes, and 3 Fries. Felt like we were in Harold & Kumar or some shit.
Single Serving? More like Double Trouble.
To-go kit for the lady. We'll see if it makes it home.
Walking out of the place, we stumbled upon the new Apple Store? Shit is huge. I swear 14th & 10th has changed from the tranny infested fudge-packing district to some new Euro hot-spot. Times are a changing. It's def not the same New York anymore.
