A Circle Manual Pad at the Center of a Skatepark — So Controversial Yet So Brave

A friendly reader, while discussing the sorely missed NYSkateboarding, suggested that we run the occasional uptick of skatepark news on here as a public service: “How else are people supposed to know there’s a new park?” (This one has showed up on IG here and there, but isn’t officially open yet.)

Though it is located in Callahan-Kelly Playground in kinda-Bed-Stuy / kinda-Brownsville, the park is visible from the J and Z platform at Broadway Junction, so everyone has been calling it “the Broadway Junction Park.”

Until this place showed up, we hadn’t really clocked how thirsty manny heads were for a proper manual pad in the city. Obviously, New York skateparks are riddled with oft-repeated champagne problems, e.g. the lack of Straight Fucking Ledges™, no mini ramps, or wondering why there’s a five-foot-tall hubba at Zered Park — but the manny pad (or lack thereof) complaint seemed to float under the radar until people heard there finally was one. Pretty much everyone has responded to footage of this place with, “Holy shit, there’s just a circle manny pad there?!” Seeing as how anyone trying to log a manny trick in the city is too used to the pitfalls of every suggestion (“How about Chinatown?” “Too choppy.” “Astoria Park?” “Too short.” “Hunt’s Point?” “Too much broken glass …and it’s in Hunts Point”) — it looks like they have one where there’s nothing to complain about. That manual pad could’ve easily been a spine ramp to rail or loop or some silly shit.

And yes, there’s Straight Fucking Ledges™ — at perfect learn-a-trick height, at that. Everyone that has skated it has nothing but great things to say, which is a rare feat in the otherwise can’t-please-everybody world of skatepark discourse.

The Parks Department website has this one listed at 92% complete, though it is already late on the projected April 2023 completion date. It’s currently surrounded by one fence around the perimeter of the park itself, and another one around the skatepark. Only 8% until it’s a go ;)

7 Comments

  1. I think that’s the point buddy. They’re not in the habit of putting stuff like this in skateparks but its the type of stuff people want more than anything.

  2. Now that’s its officially open we can say the complaint is that it gets crowded very easy. Best in the mornings but generally agree. Good park. Biking distance to street spots too so you can leave once too many pepple show up.

  3. the lights dont turn on until mad late. especially now tht daylight savings is in full effect. can someone hit up the city and habe them change or check the timer for the lights


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