Spots: Downtown Manhattan — Financial District

Spot: Veteran’s is the premier stair spot you’ll find downtown. There is a twelve, a seven, and an infinite amount of sixes throughout the plaza set up so that you may hit one after the other. The surface of the plaza is smooth for skating, although it is made out of a rocky material that will kill the tail of your board after a while, or scrape up your hands if you land on them to break a fall. All the steps generally have ample runway and landing, so you wouldn’t have much trouble skating them. Otherwise, there are a couple marble benches scurried throughout the plaza, and several higher concrete ledges.

If you head south one block south on South Street, you’ll find the now close-to-obsolete Whitehall Spot. The ledges and rails are all skatestopped, but a few things remain. There’s a ten set, which has perfect runway, but a ten foot long sidewalk with a landing into South Street, which is typically pretty busy during the day. Towards the front of the building, there’s a nine set, which you’ll get kicked out of a lot quicker because it’s closer to the security window. Finally, there’s the “Whitehall Gap,” which entails getting on top of a two-foot high ledge, riding on it for about fifteen feet, and clearing four feet of a handicap ramp below it, another two-foot wide ledge next to it, and an eight-foot drop into the sidewalk.

Bust — ♦♦♦ / Half-and-half: There is usually a security guard walking around during the day, so the only way of potentially skating the spot is just trying your luck and seeing whether or not he’s around. The guards typically are not around at night, so after hours is a safer bet.

Location: Coenties Slip and Water Street, at the S&P Building. Take the R or W to Whitehall Street, and skate north on Water Street for three blocks. The spot is on the east side of the street.

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