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Thursday, November 19, 2009 10:33am PST

A Farewell To The Banks

By: MORINformed

The view of the Brooklyn Bridge from the Banks. All photos: MORINformed

The Brooklyn Banks. Nuff said, yous guys better understand the importance of the place. If you don't know, yous better take the gabagool (some kind of Italian sandwich meat) out of your ears, and ask somebody. Cause, guy, if you think yous going to be able to skate them for the next fwhore years, yous can forgetaboutit.

That's my best New Yorker impression, it sucks, I know, but as they say in the Big Apple, I'm just a "So Cal Wussbag." One thing is for sure though, this So Cal Wussbag knows how important the legacy of the Brooklyn Banks are to New York skateboarding. It's just a shame the legendary skate spot sits directly under an even more legendary construction. The Brooklyn bridge is over a hundred years old, and needs a facelift, so guess what? Skateboarding on the Manhattan side of the bridge (the Banks are actually in Manhattan) is going to have to be put on hold for a few years.

There is one positive thing to remember though, the Banks are not dead. They are just going to have to go into a four year hibernation. That leaves us skateboarders, especially the NYC guys, with a few objectives. First and foremost, make sure the amount of the time the city has said this construction is going to last, is the amount of time it is going to last. We are in a recession, and construction tends to slow down in hard times. Also, I've watched the Sopranos enough to know there are some heavy unions over there that have ways of getting their way. If they want the job to slow down, it is going to slow down. That is, unless you want to "sleep with the fishes," or be buried under the new Giants stadium, that they are currently in the process of building.

Secondly, and maybe most importantly, it has to be made sure that the Banks are kept skateable. We all know the city has no issues with steam rolling the whole area. It's not like they haven't already changed over the years. Watch Jamie Thomas' opening run in Welcome to Hell, then watch I don't know, the new Zoo York video, which has to have some Banks footage in it. Shit, I was at the premier, but for some reason my memory is a little fuzzy. Anyway, watch some recent footage from the Banks, and you'll for sure notice some differences in the geography of the spot. That's because a few years ago the city tried to get rid of the place, but because of the efforts of the NYC skate scene, the Banks were saved. The spot became a city sanctioned skatepark. It was a DIY effort led by Five Boro skateboards general, Steve Rodriguez (pictured above with the megaphone). He was like that guy who stood in front of that tank in Tienanmen Square, but unlike in China, Steve didn't get steam rolled, and neither did the Banks.

Now, fast-forward a few years and the Banks have been on their game. I was at the last Back to Banks, a grassroots, free-entry-to-all contest at the spot, put on by: Steve, 5 Boro, Volcom, Emerica, World Industries, Bones, Skateboarder magazine, Red Bull, Metro Plus and Tech Deck. I've never seen so many people at the place, it was one of the coolest skate contests I've been a part of (check out Colin Provost above with a blunt on the barrier at the last Back to the Banks). It just goes to show how many people skate the place, and what it means to the people of New York. It's sad to think there won't be another Back To The Banks gathering for at least four years.

So once again the Brooklyn Banks are under attack, and need the help of the creators that inhabit them. The Brooklyn Bridge needs renovations, so the century old pathway, and the safety of the people that use it, are going to be the number one priority of the people of New York. That leaves the skateboarders of the city to hope this happens as soon as possible, with the least amount of changes. We'll see.

Channels: Skate

Tags: brooklyn banks, Steve Rodriguez , new york city