Spots: Downtown Manhattan — Tribeca & West Village
Spot: Billy Rohan claims that skating the post-2009-remodeling version of Washington Square in the summertime feels like skating in Europe. I’m assuming that refers to the collegiate atmosphere, abundance of foreign-exchange students studying for a semester at NYU, people pretending that they are being artistic by singing songs they learned from Juno with the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar, and good flatground, because the ledges here more-or-less suck.
Hypothetically, if you are into skating on round ledges, you’ll have a blast. I haven’t met a person who prefers or doesn’t mind round ledges to this day, so that seems unlikely. Aside from the apparent rounded-ness, they are perfect in every sort of way: marble, long, on great ground, with ends on all sides, etc. But it is a lot more desirable to skate over them, or use them as manual pads than it is to stay here and try to figure out how to kickflip back tail on one.
Otherwise, yes, this spot has some of the best flatground in the city, and some medium-height pillars to do tricks over.
Bust — ♦♦♦ / Half-and-half: Technically speaking, you are allowed to skate here, insofar as you don’t skate the ledges. So if you show up here and only skate flatground, nobody is going to bother you, even if the cops/Parks Department rolls through. Skating the ledges, well, is anyone’s guess. You can get kicked out in five seconds, or have the whole evening here. And typically, if you’re getting kicked out for skating the ledges, the cops/Parks Department will try to issue you a summons. Otherwise, be mindful of the fact that there are usually ridiculous amounts of people in this park during the warmer seasons, namely NYU girls looking to learn about new bands and contract their first STD, in addition to white environmental activists with dreadlocks who pinpoint the defining moment of their lives to the second they finished watching An Inconvenient Truth and Googled the terms “global warming.” Basically, it is best to skate here when it is cold out, or late. Otherwise, be prepared to deal with the crowds.
The park closes at midnight, and a cop will typically roll through at that time with a loudspeaker telling you to leave. The 55-year-old Haitian drug dealers will remain.
Location: Fifth Avenue and Waverly Place / Washington Square North. Take the R or W to 8th Street–NYU. Skate west on 8th Street for three blocks until you hit Fifth Avenue. Make a left on Fifth Avenue and skate south. The park is at the end of Fifth Avenue, underneath the arch, in about three blocks.
Pictures (Click to Enlarge):
