There are a lot of skateparks in this city, and we commend the efforts of all those responsible for their creation. However, this is a web destination composed of people abiding by a “If you can’t ollie up it, don’t ollie down it” motto, who define a good ledge spot as “another thing to do 5050s on.” If you’re not looking to simulate skating on a real handrail or learning to skate a ramp-to-ledge (Tribeca), if you aren’t a bowl hero (Chelsea), if you leave northern Brooklyn and don’t insist on skating inherently bad skateparks (McCarren), and if you don’t want to share a park with a bunch of wax-friendly, thugged-out rollerbladers (The Bronx) — Canarise is the best skate park in New York City. (Yes, it’s better than Astoria.)
Pros:
– It’s the most low-impact park in the city. It looks like it was made for kids who just began skating, and old guys who don’t like jumping down things. Aside from the two quarterpipes at the start of the park’s “snake run,” there is nothing over four feet in height.
– It has the best flow out of any skatepark in New York. It’s a run of mellow obstacles leading into an eventual pit of a street course.
– There are two benches and one straight ledge in the “run” portion of the park. Not the best place to come if you’re looking to learn a ledge trick, but it’s better than the other five parks in the city for that purpose. Eventually, New York-based skatepark designers will appreciate the value of a simple not-too-high and not-too-low straight ledge at a skatepark, but that day has yet to arrive.
Cons:
– It’s in…the…middle…of…nowhere. It’s a 25-minute local road drive from Park Slope. Apparently, you need to take the L to the last stop, and a bus to get there via public transportation. It’s far. As hell. Like, really, really, far.
– There are no stores around. There’s a water fountain, but that’s it.
– There are already a few mini-craters in the concrete at the top of the Euro gap. Maybe they’re an anomaly, but it is a bit of a red flag for a park that has been open for a month. Hopefully, it doesn’t take the McCarren route of being great for the first half-year, and eventually turning to shit due to bad concrete work.
NY Skateboarding had a detailed post with pictures and videos up last month, but here are a few more.