The Best Skate Video Parts of the 2010s — QS Reader Survey Results

Illustration by Cosme Studio

Back in October, we asked QS visitors to choose their favorite video parts of the 2010s. If civilization and skateboarding were to end today, which five parts would you bury in a weather-and-nuclear-proof time capsule for post-apocalyptic earth dwellers to reference when they rediscover skate culture of these past ten years?

QS prides itself as being a destination for people who think a lot about skateboarding. Rather than poll a few close colleagues for their favorites, we felt we had a wide enough reverberation in the skate nerd universe to try and crowdsource a canon of the 2010s from anyone willing to sit down and think about it. I can emphatically say that in reviewing the mountain of ballots, everyone took their votes seriously — save maybe the guy who voted for five Micky Papa parts.

As we tallied the results, consistent trends in the count were apparent. Any fears about a recency bias went out the window; there’s only one part from 2019, and the average year of the top 25 is 2014. QS obviously has its own breed of skate nerd audience — this poll would look different if taken by Thrasher or Free — but I would bet that their lists wouldn’t be TOO far off from this one.

Presented without comment for the top 25-11, and then via a lot of favors from writer friends on the internet for the top 10: here are the 25 best video parts of the past ten years.

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It’s 5 Hours Somewhere

Photo via Zach

Nice! So we made it two weeks without having to rally for a skate spot’s survival on a Monday Links post… This time, the spot is an ocean away, but in this media enterprise’s opinion, it’s the best spot in the world — even better than Tompkins when there are two boxes! Everyday Hybridity has the most current update on Prague’s Stalin Plaza being fenced off / condemned to renovation.

It’s all fun and games until Balenciaga actually does a renegade runway show at Blue Park next September.

A dear friend, “Zach from Crown Heights,” called into The Brian Lehrer Show’s episode about the “cost of climate resilience” to provide a T.F. anecdote to the ongoing battle with the East River Park renovation. The convo in question happens just after the 17-minute mark. Whole episode is worth listening to if you want some context as to how this whole issue came to be in the first place.

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Summer 2k19 4ever

Photo via Stafhon

#SaveTompkins in The New York Times. Sign and share the petition to keep synthetic turf off the courts at Tompkins.

The JHAKX video from Takeshi Nagamatsu has a New York section to start it off, plus a lot of familiar faces. It’s funny to see the metal strips across the Cooper Union bank get defeated one at a time over the years.

Pleasure” is a 20-minute NJ/NYC/Philly video by Hugh O’Hare, and “Don’t Smoke That Wood In Here” is a 10-minute NJ/NYC/Philly video by the Lottery Boiz. Shout out to the enduring badness of bust-free ledges in the greater New York metropolitan area, which causes all of us to still drive out to Staten Island to skate P.S. 6…in 2019. Also, of course skaters wasted no time editing something to Young Thug’s late summer beach anthem, but tbh, “went from boogie board shorty and now I’m the big kahuna” is a lot to live up to.

#Mandatorypost of #TylerTuftycontent for our core readership.

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Last Words — Transworld Skateboarding Magazine

Photo stolen from @mistaken_id on Instagram

As you likely heard, on Monday, current subscribers to Transworld received notice that March / April 2019 would be the magazine’s final print issue. And in what made me initially think they had to be trolling, the remainder of everyone’s subscriptions would be replaced by issues of Men’s Journal. Associate editor, Mackenzie Eisenhour, wrote on Instagram that TWS would continue producing digital content, though he will no longer be with the mag.

I sat for a couple of days thinking what to write about the #2 Skateboard Magazine’s demise (which spent some years as the #1 Skateboard Magazine, depending on who you ask) without only veering into nostalgia that has very little to do with how we got here, and without “print is dead! long live print!”-isms. The average 2019 skateboarder’s attitude to legacy media can be summed up as “I’m happy magazines exist” at best — and that is simply a symptom of where media and our collective attention spans are now.

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Monday Slog

Late one today. Photo via @lottiesskateshop.

Eternal Youth in Tompkins Square” is a New York Times style section feature documenting many of the new(ish) faces around T.F. these past couple years, shot by our friend Danny Weiss, with words from Ted Barrow, the skater who Jason Byoun would show his mom if she asked what skateboarding was.

The Times also did this feature on hill bombing in S.F. with GX1000 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

“I didn’t want to go to school or work at some grocery store, wherever you work when you’re 16. Fuck it, I’ll go to Russia!” (Umm…) The Chrome Ball Incident got ahold of the otherwise interview-evasive Anthony Van Englen.

“This spot is long gone. We called them ‘Chelsea Banks’ because they were on the West Side Highway in Chelsea, directly across the highway from, what is today, the Chelsea Piers Skatepark. Today this spot is a little green triangular park, but back then it was a shit show.” TWS interviewed original Zoo York co-founder, Eli Gesner, and original Shut rider, Jeremy Henderson, about filming Mark Gonzales during the first time he ever came to New York in 1987.

Apparently, the only difference between a 2003 skate shoe and a 2017 skate shoe is the sole. Village Psychic and Lurker Lou did a wear test for Jason Dill’s Mosaic era DVS pro model.

Here’s volume 24 of LurkNYC’s “New York Times” outtakes series. The gap noseslide on the metal step behind Union Square was sick.

The Bunt’s latest is with Drop-In Skatepark alumni, Dick Rizzo, and Skate Muzik’s latest is a Welcome to Hell-themed episode with Beatrice Domond.

The Theories boys went to Chicago.

Calzone is Matt Velez’s sequel to Sable, due to premiere in Brooklyn on November 30th. Full parts from Mark Humienik, Nick Ferro, et al. Flyer here. Small teaser here.

Midtown’s most photogenic ledge spot is back like it never left.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Dirk, we love you, but this is too funny.

Quote of the Week
Observant Gentleman: “It’s crazy you ride for Polar but aren’t good at wallies.”
Hjalte Halberg: “Yeah, but at least I learned no complys recently.”

Happy birthday Z ♥ No matter the years, this part doesn’t get any less insane.