Way back when in the #90s, pay phones functioned as communication hubs for the Great American Skate Plaza. At my old local, Shafer Court, you could call the pay phone and, nine times out of ten, a gentleman would answer “Shafer Court” — as if it were a place of business! — and tell you if anyone was skating, who was skating, and such. The pay phone across the street from Pulaski and the one (if I recall correctly) by the Embarcadero Carl’s Jr. — same shit. These phones, working in conjunction with pagers, served as communication nodes for the culture.
Of course, as cellular phone technology evolved, this quaint element of skateboarding fell by the wayside. That is, until the advent of Instagram. Specifically, skaters started using this mad futuristic technology to A) document their scene, and B) provide skate nerds the world over with access to a culture that they would have otherwise envisioned solely in the Theatre of the Mind.
@Macbalife is one of the leaders in this field (at press time: 292k followers). We sat down with its creator to gain some insight into one of the most notorious spots on Planet Earth.
Hélas’ multi-“disc” Fellas video has revealed itself to be something of the Wu Tang Forever of European skateboarding in 2019. Yet out of all the places they could’ve put Jesus and Javier’s guest tricks, they rightfully picked Pedro’s part.
A month late seeing this July upload — but spreading the word about lesser-known corners of skateboarding is probably the entire point of still paddling against the tide in a canoe shaped like a words-based skate media outlet, no? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We met Sergio Salgado on that 2017 Barcelona trip when the entire city of New York flew out there on $350 tickets, and it rained the whole time. His nickname is Filoko, but someone on our trip lovingly gave him the moniker “Wine God,” because he skated at all hours of the day with wine in tow. Watching him skate is an experience of giddy anxiety. He seems to have minimal awareness of his surroundings while simultaneously being in control of everything that moves around whatever trick he’s doing. You’re worried while he’s trying, you’re pumped when he lands, and you’re confused about how the fuck he pulled it off while he’s powersliding down a hill to regain control on the rollaway. We’re here for skaters who give you a full spectrum of emotion ♥
It seems like we traded our annual office tradition of late posts on the Monday during Fashion Week for late posts on the Monday after Glory Challenge. No seasoned QS reader expected an on-time update today though, let’s be honest ;)
Before we get started, let’s talk about perseverance in the face of adversity. No matter what skate trick got away from you, what job interview didn’t call you back, what crush blocked your number…there is always hope. Even if it’s four years, and four broken boards later — maybe you too, one day, will be the recipient of a celebratory “oooohhhhh yeaaaaaahhh” from Alexis Lacroix. It is all a matter of patience and dedication.
FYI: Most remaining stuff in our webstore is on sale.
I know Vice articles about skateboarding tend to get a bad rap on the comments here, but this one is actually pretty good! Zach Harris on the “trend” of skateboarders not treating their bodies like garbage cans anymore. (Save everyone who spent the last three days in Montreal, I imagine.)
And on that note: “Will skateboarding’s notoriously rapid generational churn soon spur a backlash against sober, thoughtful life choices, and bring about a new era of ‘hammer’ tricks, illegitimate children and unpaid debt?” …probably?
It is wild how much the spot selection in even a skate heaven like Barcelona managed to change over the course of a decade. Tombo uploaded some old footage from a trip out there in 2005 with Puleo, a young Brandon Westgate, and others.
This bench has made a long journey from Delancey Curb, to the front of a Rivington Street pizza restaurant, and eventually, back to its rightful community at T.F. — though none of us have been there since Thursday, and also the D.A. softball league is back, so it might be up in heaven now.
Tony Choy-Sutton has a rad new video entitled “Gas,” which features John Gardner, Franco, Pat Gallaher, and a part from Sean Frederickson full of scary spots.
Was kind of wondering how long it’d take for an all-Borough Hall part to come along. Would be shocked if someone wasn’t working on an all-Borough Hall video right now too. (Also, seeing 2k18 American footage of people doing a line at a real street spot with dozens of skaters chilling on some steps in the background is ♥♥♥)
While sifting through a box of random skate DVDs, I remembered I had these two nineties Boston videos, the earlier one of which includes a Jahmal Williams part from literally 27 years ago. Just uploaded to YouTube here.
“In the never-ending Instagram demo, perhaps the pro daily dribbling out indifferently phone-filmed park clips is not some navel-gazing lazy, tossing half-baked bones to his or her followers while too hungover to step to street spots.”
“There’s something modest to his skateboarding, in that he can realistically do anything, but rarely rolls away with flair or arrogance. It’s a very polite way to ride a skateboard.” A guy with the same name as a former Cons pro offers up a review on the Cons video, which — if you haven’t been on the internet all weekend — is now online.
The Gristedes on 96th Street closed down, which means you can now skate the bank in front of it that only Jaws otherwise skated in some Weed Maps clip…idk dude ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: This is one of those weeks where if it didn’t go to Lebron, it’d just look like some full hater shit. So it’s going to Lebron.
Quote of the Week: “This is a pretty sweet spot. It reminds me of Germany…not that I’ve ever been to Germany.” — Nolan Benfield re: a French restaurant in France
