Understanding the Vibe of a New York City Skate

After returning from a two month skateabout in Australia, I realized how much I miss the concrete comforts of New York. I did some great longboarding all over the East Coast of Dingoville, but nothing in the world compares to the feeling I get skating NYC.

I never stepped foot on a skateboard until I was 26 years old. When I was  a kid I rode a bike, and then I grew up and got a longboard.  I learned to skate on First Ave in the East Village, my skate legs forged  in the fire of merciless traffic. Without the intensity of a hundred cabs and buses barreling down on you, the smell of steam and pizza wafting through the air, and am army of delivery dudes on bikes cruising along- without all of this skating just seems bland.

In the two days I got to skate in Brooklyn before the Snowpacalypse, I was able to connect with that part of the city I didn’t realize I had missed so much. There is a special relationship that a longboarder develops with New York. This bond is cultivated over time, and is essential to ones survival, while skating or otherwise. This covenant with the streets is based on trust, respect, determination and love. Skating here is more than being prepared for anything at anytime- it is about a kinship and harmony with the flow of traffic, people, nature and chaos. I will see you real soon NYC…….

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