Thanks to Jokamundo for the tip + first photo
Today in, “it was nobody’s favorite spot, but it served its purpose”-news, Pitt Pool A.K.A. Hamilton Fish Park is no more — or at least the most often skated part of it has been demolished.
Those of us who were around for the early 1800s will remember that this spot was once a colossal bust. Like, an if you walked in with a skateboard, you were immediately screamed at to get out by Parks personnel -level bust. At some point in the 2010s, those people got moved, or stopped caring because nobody else hung out here when the pool was closed.
Human psychology is defined by its central glitch of wanting what it can’t have, and throughout those forbidden years, there was this faint conception of “there’s this really sick spot on Houston and C that you can never skate!” Once that forbidden-ness evaporated and the spot’s bust plummeted to zero, we were forced to contend with the fact that, “Oh, this place is fine …I guess.”
Some curbs, a fountain gap, a long three-block, and a whole bunch of other tough-to-skate shit stood as a “well at least we made it out of Tompkins”-benchmark for many years, much like the E. 9th Street Triangle did if you were going in the other direction. But even that spot probably clocked accumulated more minutes of footage on it.
The most oft-skated zone is being expanded into a playground. Some of the parts closer to the main building [Dick Rizzo drop-in ride-on grind zone, etc.] are still standing though.
Either way, there’s always D7 if you want to prove to yourself that you have the mental fortitude to escape Tompkins’ deathgrip ;)
For the most extensive coverage of it, check Eryk Burton’s mini one-spot montage at the spot from his 2022 edit, “The Tale of a Toxic King” @ the 8:12 mark.