Spots: New Jersey — Newark

Spot: The Rutgers Newark campus once had a fairly recognizable hip/bank/bank-to-handrail combo that could be found in northeastern videos throughout the late-90s/early-2000s, but it was completely removed around 2005, so the spot is basically a place with a bunch of steps and rails now. It contains sets of steps everywhere between five and fifteen. The five and the six in the central part of the campus both have rails going down them and are the most frequently skated rails here. They are fairly low and mellow, and of a nice square shape. There’s a very low triple-kinked rail down a six-flat-five that has been in a handful of videos over the years. Everything here is on a sidewalk surface, and more than half of the sets have cracks in front of them, so if you’re driving here, bring a sign, a small sheet of wood, etc. There’s also a seven set with a low concrete ledge running alongside it that people do tricks over onto the sidewalk level. It’s too rough to grind or slide, though.

Bust — ♦ ♦♦ / Half-and-half: This is mostly a night spot. Otherwise, if you skate here during the day, cops or campus security may roll up on you and take your information down. Usually, no board confiscations or summonses are involved, but be alert in the event that the cops do roll up.

Location: New Street and Washington Street in University Heights. The campus is fairly expansive, so there is not exactly a definitive intersection for the stuff there is to skate. Take the A, C, E, 2, or 3 to World Trade Center. Transfer onto a Newark bound PATH train (occasionally, the Newark line will not be running; in that event, you will want to take a Journal Square bound train and transfer to a Newark train at Journal Square.) Take the train to the last stop (25-minute ride from the city.) Once you exit Newark Penn Station, skate west on Market Street for several blocks. Once you reach Broad Street (the main strip in downtown Newark), make a right, and skate north for several blocks until you hit New Street, across from Military Park. Make a left, and skate west for three blocks to hit the campus.