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Tag: Astor Place

Astor Place R.I.P.

Daily News · Time Capsule October 24th, 2014 · 11:32 am · 4

astor rip

Though far from a prominent spot this past decade-and-a-half, it is still worth noting that after five years of hearsay, the city finally closed off Astor Place and is turning it into “one of those” shitty parks e.g. what’s in front of the Flatiron Building.

Astor Place was the original New York non-spot. The city has a long history of turning absolutely nothing into a full skate spot, and it could be said to have started here. There were some trash cans and a metal curb here, just like there are trash cans and metal curbs on every other block in New York. Yet everyone risked tickets from cops and sideswipes from cabs to skate Astor because it had a zen-like quality. There was good flat, pretty girls walking by, no shortage of weirdos*, and a vibrance that you don’t catch from skating in a space enclosed from the actual street. People have to opt into Tompkins; Astor was in the middle of everything by default.

*(Re: Weirdos — For example, there was one night when a bunch of Starbucks employees got into a beef with a bunch of K Mart employees, so while his friend was in mid-arguement, one of the K-Mart employees runs around the block, down 8th Street, left on Broadway, and up Astor Place, to sucker punch the Starbucks employee. That same night, some goth kid climbed on top of the cube, fell off, and an ambulance showed up to cart him away.)

astor-gig

Photo by Mike Gigliotti

Filming at Astor in 1997 does not seem much different than filming at Tompkins in 2014. Those dudes had to be resourceful with rubbish found on the street here, and it didn’t hurt that they looked really cool simply doing 180s. After all, Hamilton Harris did one of the chillest lines in skateboarding history here. We compiled all the Astor clips from R.B. Umali’s two NY Revisted videos and threw them together on a timeline. Also, there’s a quick QS bonus reel at the end, but our time came after the glass condo, etc. went up, so that’s not worth romanticizing as much. The spot was on its way out by then and everyone just skated the front of Union instead :(

FYI: Paych DVDs available here.

‘Where’s My Morning Paper?’

Daily News October 14th, 2014 · 10:29 am · 8

canada

Went up to Canada for the holiday weekend, hence Monday Links are, um, “going up” on a Tuesday :( As you may tell from the photo above, it did not go great.

Josh Stewart remixed Kevin Tierney’s Static IV part with some alternate angles, different tricks, and a new song. Try and find a recent New York-based part where someone skates an old spot in a new way as many times as Kev does. One of the best and most original parts of the year, for sure.

“We’ll start this off with the big question: Is Gino Iannucci now on Fucking Awesome?”
“Next question.”

“The transaction resembled Tumblr acquiring AOL, or perhaps Bronze Hardwares absorbing Prodigy [the rapper and / or the web portal.]” Also, BTO late pass: Why Ryan Gallant’s Transworld cover is a victory for everyone.

Obviously this piece was meant to highlight more sophisticated maneuvers, but how exactly could one “appreciate” the Chinese ollie without mentioning Ben Sanchez?

A Javier Sarmiento part filmed in maybe two days with bad editing and filming worse than what’s expected of a Quartersnacks clip is still better than pretty much anything. Dude’s going to be 50 one day, still looking cooler than anyone on a skateboard.

Ripped Laces put together a #listicle of the best pedestrian v.s. skateboarder interactions from skate videos. “That’s why you should skate in the street: to meet weirdos.” That rationale has also been used to justify riding MTA trains, but the frustrations might outweigh the entertainment.

Well, now we know that Bobby Shmurda’s rise to stardom will coincide with a plethora of applicable #musicsupervision choices for Bobby Worrest re-edits. Also, here’s some B-side clips of Bobby from the 2000s, several of which look unfamiliar.

The Chocolate team stops by Astor Place and the L.E.S. park on their “20 Years” tour. FYI: The Astor Place construction that has been “imminent” for more than five years is starting to look like a reality.

Here’s Joseph Delgado’s part from OD WAVY and Brandon Girona’s part from PFP3.

Throwaway reel from John Valenti with some chill Brendan Carroll footage.

Jim Hodgson remixed his In Absentia Newport footage if you weren’t into our version.

QS Sports Desk Preseason Play of the Week: Oh Nate, it’s great to have you back. JaVale on the bench is another welcome sight.

Quote of the Week: “Being loud and obnoxious doesn’t get you ahead in life. Most of the time, it sets you back. Actually, all of the time.” — Andre Page

“I thought Columbus was the hero of America?”

Nothing Links the Same

Daily News September 23rd, 2013 · 5:05 am · 9

set up

The 2013 edition of Frozen in Carbonite’s always great song of the summer + best video parts of the summer wrap up is now live. It tackles important topics like Mark Appleyard’s longevity, French Montana’s lack of figurative language, and Javier Sarmiento’s fashion choices. Notable omissions to the songs include “Versace,” “No New Friends,” “Type of Way,” “Fine China,” “Get Lucky” (“the Lone Ranger of summer songs” i.e. force fed garbage), and “I Hit It First,” the S.O.T.S. that sadly never was. You can check the 2012 edition here and the 2011 one here.

Joseph Delgado has a solid three-minute video checkout on the Transworld site. The Flushing extension tricks are awesome. (How has “Party and Bullshit” been used for like five skate parts, but nobody thought to use the Lord Finesse version?)

Download Black Dave’s new mixtape, Black Bart.

It has been on the horizon for quite some time, but it looks like the Astor Place renovation is close to becoming an unfortunate reality :(

A few summers ago, there was a kid who would always be at Lenox Ledges trying no comply impossible to frontside 5050s. Never saw him land it (or lock in), but this guy might have him beat either way.

Some dudes put together a historic mini documentary about Milano Centrale, the most famous skate spot in Italy. If given the choice right now, would you rather go to Milan or Prague for a ledge skating trip?

Thrasher uploaded some raw footage of Wade Speyer, Phil Shao and others skating around Manhattan with Bici, Gangemi and the Keefe brothers in the mid-nineties.

Mountain Dew seems committed to monopolizing the skateboard-related #listicle game, and taking a bit of Complex’s marketshare along with it. They have a new one that breaks down the history of Girl and Chocolate in a convenient form for those intimidated by seeing multiple paragraphs on the same page.

Speaking of #listicles, here’s one that makes the case for New Jersey contributing more to skateboarding than any other non-Californian state. Dave Filchak’s name is oddly missing from it though.

Check out volume four of Billy Rohan’s bro cam series, “Illumignarly.”

Database Volume 2 is a cool, largely Jersey City-based mini video.

If you’re pro, you should pro skate this thing before its gone.

QS Sports Desk: Can’t wait to watch D. Rose play again this season.

Quote of the Week: “You sold your Xbox for weed.”

Thanks to everyone who linked our End of Summer clip: Recordings of Boardings, Grey Skate Mag, Monster Skate Mag, Caught in the Crossfire, NY Skateboarding, Skate Everyday, The Palamino Club, and anyone else. Also big thanks to everyone in the YouTube comments who informed us that Rich Homie Quan is “not real hip-hop.” We’ll re-edit it to KRS-One or something.

Quim Cardona: Live From Astor Place

Daily News June 29th, 2011 · 11:09 am

(Interesting to hear that this bank is still around, only “hidden.” Quim should return for a 2011 Thrasher photo opportunity. After all, it’s John Cardiel’s favorite magazine cover, so they’d have to oblige and run a 2011 version just off general principle.)

Colin from Mandible Claw put together a three part “Slap Pals” video interview with Quartersnacks favorite, Quim Cardona. So far, only one part is up. Filmed at the building standing in place of the parking lot / 40 oz. bottle depository across from the Cube, the current installment deals with the frequently mythologized Astor Place to Midtown skate, the story behind the November 1995 Thrasher cover, Non-Fiction era San Francisco versus Non-Fiction era New York, and who Quim believes the best skater from New Jersey is. There’s no reason anyone but the Toxic Avenger should ever be discussed for that title — in fact, he should be the governor of New Jersey once Chris Christie spontaneously combusts.

Part 2 is supposed to go live today. Part two here.

The (No Longer) Delayed Astor Place Renovation

Daily News January 7th, 2011 · 4:43 pm · 10

We mentioned it about two years ago, but Curbed is reporting that in light of the economy no longer being “in the skids,” the renovation of the entire area around the Cube is soon to be under way. That essentially means they are going to knock out a bunch of the streets, and pour some sand over glue a la “the green ribbon winding from 59th Street to 14th.”

Although Astor is probably the most famous skate spot that isn’t actually a skate spot, it’s going to suck to see it go. We haven’t been skating there too much in the past year-and-a-half, due to the street renovations that sent tons of small pebbles into the area, proving detrimental to a place best-suited for flatground tricks. If you haven’t spent countless summer evenings here, waiting for the sun to set and the street lights to turn on, watching girls and learning tricks, it’s going to be hard to explain the spot’s zen-like appeal, and why exactly a place where your board might get run over by a cab, or a cop might cruise by and give you a ticket, was worth skating for four hours straight. (Even when you had to share it with ravers and morons having convulsions after spinning the cube for their first time.)

The one amazing thing about the article, is that it seems like the “neighborhood” actually discussed skateboarding in their meeting. “Down in the plaza W+Y’s zipper benches, good for keeping skateboarders in line, will encircle the trees and give East Villagers a chance to kick back on something other than grungy sidewalks.” I know cities, especially New York, always change as different tides of people move in, but it has always pissed me off that someone can live amidst a four lane intersection with a major subway stop outside and legions of NYU idiots vomiting on the street, and still call in a NOISE complaint on skateboarders. You guys can cry about “trust fund kids” all you want, but people who have the audacity to call in a noise complaint in New York City while living in a four-way intersection are the real enemy.

“When I started skating here, the curb was like a foot high. They just paved it so much over the years.” — Ryan Hickey

R.I.P. Astor Place