Spots: New Jersey — Assorted Hudson County

Update — December 2010: The fountain gap has been fenced off, and all the ground around it seems like it is to-be torn out. This basically means there is nothing left to skate here anymore aside from the six-stair and the step-up ledges out on the pier.

Spot:

Most of the obstacles at this spot has been skatestopped, but there are still a couple of things left. The most recognizable thing here is the fountain gap, which has two levels. Off the bottom level, you ollie over a cobblestone surface underneath it. It is equivalent to your average four stair. Off the top level, you must gap over the lower level itself and the cobblestones. Your runway is minimal, so you will have to run onto your board to gather enough speed. Across from the fountain, is a just as short runway leading to a six stair. This part of the park is very well lit at night, and covered, just in case (heaven forbid) you’re stuck in Hoboken at night in the rain for some reason, but you should be re-evalauting your life choices altogether if that happens to be the case.

Out on the pier you will find a bunch of oddly set up benches, a ledge to kinked handrail, and two ascending granite ledges alongside a bike path that are still skatestopped in varying portions of the ledge. The famous part of this spot is the step up ledge on the waterfront, which was a fairly photogenic location back before 9/11, as a handful of photos facing south were shot there, with the Trade Center in the immediate background across the river. Reda actually shot a two-page spread of Todd Jordan doing a switch backside tailslide on it with all of the memorial candles and flowers up against the railing in the first week after the attacks that ran in Skateboarder in late-2001. The ledge is two feet high, without an end. There is another one for the opposing stance on the northern end of the pier as well.

Bust — ♦♦ / Occasional: On very few occasions, bicycle cops may roll through and tell you to beat it, but it is a fairly rare occurrence.

Location: Newark Street and Frank Sinatra Drive in Hoboken, NJ. If you’re coming from Uptown or Queens, take the B, D, F, V, N, Q, R or W to 34th Street — Herald Square. If you’re coming from Downtown or Brooklyn, take the A, C, E, 2, or 3 to World Trade Center. Transfer onto a Hoboken PATH train, and take it to the last stop in New Jersey (ten minute ride from the city.) Skate towards the waterfront once you exit the station and the spot is right there.

Pictures (Click to Enlarge):