The QS Year in Review Countdown: 20-16

Big week for Andrew Wilson Manhattan Bridge headliner images :)

Moving along with the countdown. Part one is here.

20. New Spots on That Bridge Above the Skatepark

You’ve gone east and west on the Manhattan Bridge millions of times. People will stop to talk about the gap Muska ollied on the Manhattan side, or to say “maybe, it’s possible, someone could do it…one day” about the black rail on the Brooklyn side. There’s stuff to skate on the route, but not really. That is, until this year, when a small but resourceful group decided to turn the spaces between the knobs on the rails that follow the entire bridge into a hazardous new spot.

19. Vine Comp History is Made

Near its end, hundreds of skateboarders had appeared in 411 openers. It was one of our highest distinctions — a distinction that was eventually distinguished upon hundreds. The luster of the horns probably started to wear off a bit by issue 42 or something.

This past spring, a skateboarding taco advertising $1 edible versions of itself aimed to do what many have before it: come off the pedestrian side of the Williamsburg Bridge without stop, and make that seamless left onto Bedford Avenue. The taco learned that pulling out of the bridge is not as simple as it seems, given traffic and the sharpness of the turn, earning itself an opener in a Worldstar Vine Comp, and a place in history.

18. Canadians Notice Stuff That We Don’t

Standing out with #spotselection in Brooklyn or outer boroughs isn’t tough, as their #brandidentity is centered around indistinguishable crust. In Manhattan, it’s almost impossible; 75% of the city’s marquee obstacles are there.

Besides these guys, no crew in recent years’ “Summer Trip to New York” cycles has 1) so adamantly strayed away from any of the other four boroughs for the duration of their multi-week stay, and 2) managed to skate so many ignored corners of [lower] Manhattan in the process. Best #spotselection since the Vans Europe squad came through and crushed Soho.

17. Bieber Makes History at MSG

Canadians, by and large, have had a hell of a year. Bieber was the focal point of a massive “coming to terms with”-arc in 2015, not unlike another Canadian during the Take Care era (when denying his prominence became akin to crossing your fingers in hopes that the sun wouldn’t rise that next morning.)

Bieber was undeniable in 2015. His music spoke simply to the full spectrum of human relationships: from the “where r u now” text, to the “what do u mean” disagreement, ending with the “is it too late to say sorry?” conversation when you realize you were in it for more than the sex. He also joined the ranks of remarkably few — Brian Anderson, Billy Rohan, Aaron Suski, Frank Gerwer — in getting a clip at one of the biggest busts in Midtown, where security guards swore a blood oath to protect oblivious Knicks fans from coming to terms with their grim reality, or maybe a board to the ankle.

And before you clown the homie…remember: we all fall on four-stair ollies fam.

16. The Wallie of the Year

You’ve been inside the Houston Street Whole Foods. You’ve creeped out a cute girl at the Houston Street Whole Foods. You’ve spent five aimless hours lurking upstairs of the Houston Street Whole Foods. You’ve tried to use the bathroom at the Houston Street Whole Foods, and on the way, you’ve noticed the smooth concrete stadium ledges on the second floor of the Houston Street Whole Foods. You knew better than to skate the perfect spot inside the Houston Street Whole Foods.

In 2015, Jason Byoun did a wallie off the second level of the stadium ledges at the Houston Street Whole Foods, making him the first person to get a clip inside of Houston Street Whole Foods.

Bonus Mini Five: Surprises
– Lurk NYC making #THESWITCH
– The city started being #smart and turned Fat Kid Spot into a skatepark instead of a wasteland
– The ollie body varial over a straight up can is still a NBD after a contended battle this summer (…right? Haven’t seen Bleach yet…)
– Nobody skated to that Route 94 song and Slicky Boy wasn’t at the last night of Westway
– That garbage-ass painted ledge on Grand Street is fully a spot that people go to now oh my god