Closing this one out :) Previously in 2016: 25-16, 15-6
Past Editions: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010
5. The State of the T.F. Report [Sponsored by Soundcloud]
Those around for the post-9/11 flatbar years would find the modern T.F. virtually unrecognizable. Anyone with a functioning brain opts to meet at a skatepark rather than a place where they are forced to have an interaction with a paralegal holding a permit. This year, we were shocked to learn that while we may have a dedicated place to willingly cage ourselves into under the Manhattan Bridge, Soundcloud rappers are still looking for a home. In 2016, they found a nest at our onetime East Village meeting place, and have kept the (sometimes literal) fire of Tompkins debauchery lit in an era when we demand that our day consist of something more than skating a piece of plywood or a discarded Christmas tree.
4. The Slam Heard Around the World
2016 felt like the most divisive year of our lives. Lines were drawn along just about every classification you could make for why one group of humans is right-er than another.
But there was one moment that was undeniable — a moment that brought argent racists to the same tone of laughter as the world’s most open-minded free thinkers, a moment that gave the angry brown pants guy who otherwise only talks about how he got fucked by the skate industry the same pearly white smile as the 16-year-old in oversized white jeans and pink Cons.
And that moment was the video above.
3. T.J. in Away Days
There have always been excuses for New Yorkers. “It’s too easy to get distracted by the party,” “the spots are too rugged,” “the winters are too harsh,” or any other variety of bullshit you’ve heard expounded on by anyone who has lived in this place for 72 hours+. Ever since Tyshawn made his debut in “cherry,” his entire output on a skateboard has been ruthlessly anti-excuse, rendering him the most talented and productive native New Yorker in well over a generation. His first major company part in Away Days was just the beginning.
2. Q.S.S.O.T.Y.
43 weeks ago in Instagram years, Daniel Kim declared “I don’t wear snackbacks no more.”
Since then, the Belly of the Beast star grew the most luxurious hair in skateboarding, rebranded himself as the Vert God, and became the leading purveyor of “V speshal water for real human beings.” When water’s role in potentially ending all human life has become real, and the concept of someone skating “differently” means they skate in the same “different” way as ten other guys, the world needs a Vert God. And for these reasons, in addition to the far-reaching depths of his trick selection in Spirit Quest and the invention of the Korean Air (switch Japan air), Daniel Kim is the Quartersnacks Skater of the Year.
1. Dead Ass New York
Even with New York being the summer home of the skateboard industry, and the IRL melting pot of skateboarding’s continued globalization, it still remains a place where widely resonant city-made videos are scarce. The DANY video had a native creator, and an all native cast (ok fine, Jason Byoun is from Jersey, but Jersey’s the best anyway.) It owned the Freedom Tower and sometimes sterile 2016 versions of lower Manhattan in its super-8 interludes rather than interjecting any past era for nostalgia cues. It used music by people making music in New York right now instead of from some mythical “golden age.” The DANY video was about now, without any concerns about what may have came before it.
Parts: Yaje Popson, Genesis Evans, Adam Zhu, Shawn Powers
Bonus Mini 5 — 2017 Predictions
5. Someone loses a sponsor or two over a drunk Instagram live.
4. Astor won’t have anything to skate again oh, wait…
3. Boards begin a slow turn back down below 8 inch width.
2. NBA Youngboy supplants 21 Savage as the most commonly used IG clip music.
1. The sort of awful shit that made 2016 awful keeps happening in 2017, but it won’t matter for any of us — at least in the short term — because skateboarding is still the coolest, funnest, bestest thing ever ♥
Great list
Haha that prediction about Instagram live is so true