→ Please sign the petition to show your support for keeping the asphalt at the Tompkins Square Park courts. This space is as sacred to skateboarding and the East Village as the Rucker or the West 4th Street courts are to basketball. It would be a massive loss to the youth and cultural fabric of the neighborhood if they were covered with synthetic turf. We are a few hundred shy of 25,000 (!!!) signatures, so please please please share the petition with your friends, and on your respective social channels.
After many years of captivity, the Zipper Ledge is finally free and dressed with a fresh, yellow paintjob, as first reported by @mini_spots. (Don’t ask for pin! That’s like asking where the Empire State Building is!) If only the park starts opening the gate at Yellow Rail, then the entire Morningside little kid skate scene circa 2003 will be in full revival.
One of the hardest things about interviewing skateboarders is not asking the same ten things that the last few interviews they did asked. It’s special and rare when you get someone for their first one. Caleb Barnett did his first ever interview with the Slam City Skates blog.
Congrats again to Antonio Durao on the pro board. Despite the recent growth of #skatetwitter, skateboarders are still way more partial to the ‘gram — so we’ll just leave the thread of Antonio odds ‘n ends that we have been compiling since July on here for the non-tweeters to peruse.
Genny is making edits again! His latest features some bro cam + a bunch of alternate angles from a handful of more proper projects released over the past twelve months. It ends with a sick iPhone slo mo of T.J’s fakie flip over Bond Street, which is basically just a barometer for believing anything done on a skateboard from now on, e.g. “Can you believe so-and-so did that?” “Well, T.J. fakie flipped Bond Street, so yeah.”
Quintessence is a new video from Sam Mccormick that was filmed from 2013 to 2019, and features an overview of every piece of New York crust or diamond-plate that was sought after in each of those years, kinda on a Now That’s What I Call Cellar Doors 2015 vibe. Includes full parts from Joseph Delgado and Neil Herrick at the end. (Jackmauh is a sick last name, btw.)
Lurker Lou is having an art show for his “Purple Shoe Lou” project this Saturday, May 4. 269 Humboldt Street. (Grand Street L train…does that thing run on weekends rn?) 7-10 P.M. Flyer here.
QS Sports Desk Play of the Week:C’mon. We’re sympathetic to the Thunder’s plight in that its oddly reminiscent of the “good” Knicks teams from earlier in the 2010s (moreso now in the Russ-only era…not the whole “drafting three MVPS and only having one left” thing), and we’re obvs massive Russ fans at the QS Sports Desk, but Dame’s shot was one of the most iconic playoff moments in any of our lifetimes. And apparently Portland-based skate filmer, Tristan Brillanceau-Lewis, who put out Portland Public Skating 2 last summer, in addition to a bunch of other videos, shot this close-up angle of Lillard’s game winner.
Quote of the Week: “This drink tastes like melted Spongebob ice cream.” — E.J.
Hearing there was a “b sides” Jay-Z concert at the re-opened Webster Hall the other night made me want to track this part down, so here it is. Zered pretty much has the two best Jay-Z song parts, and both are for “b-sides” (“Lobster & Shrimp” had a video and everything, but that shit is buried in the pile.)
We did an end of the year inventory over at the warehouse, and turned up some loosies of things we had marked as sold out. Check the webstore in case you missed out on something from the last release. It’s not a restock, e.g. maybe we found quite literally two larges of a tee and threw them back online. Once they’re gone, they’re gone. Thank you everyone for all the support throughout the year.
“I think me doing all these other things outside of skating makes me like skating more.” Thrasher posted up Tyshawn’s interview from the last issue, and the full “BLESSED” article online. Still processing how Kadow’s Chinatown Banks lipslide ever worked out.
Need a playlist with a sizable chunk of the Young Thug leaks from 2018? Yeah, you do. It’s insane some of these are sitting in purgatory compared to what gets released by the label. This playlist > the sum of his “official” 2018 output, and his “Let It All Work Out” is better than his dad’s ♥
QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Theotis Beasley WITH THE BLOCK!!!
The QS webstore is now live with spring merch. Quantities are thinning out a bit, so grab something while you can :) Available in U.S., Canadian and Japanese shops now. Those stockists can be found here. Arriving in Europe this week, but we need to update the list of Euro and Japanese shops. Hold tight. Thanks everyone for your support in helping us continue to do what we do (e.g. compile John Choi quotes.)
Big surprise, Bobshirt compiled another amazing interview, this time with Rob Pluhowski. He runs through the full history of Habitat without any hints of entitlement or bitterness that seem to color some others’ recollections of the era. Gracious interview from a guy who graciously bowed out of skateboarding.
“It’s not even that he seemed unconcerned what people may think, but that he seems only vaguely aware that such people might even exist, and doesn’t seem much interested in sweating it too much either way.” — Boil the Ocean re: the aforelinked interview, and the rare act of bowing out of skateboarding and never looking back.
Can’t really remember the last time the thought “wow, what a front tailslide heelflip out!” came to mind, but wow, what a front tailslide heelflip out! Via Neil Herrick’s Meadowlands part. Support Jersey-owned businesses and buy the DVD here.
“I once knew someone who wore a thick gold rope and kept it tucked into their shirt, so that the weight of it rested against their bare chest, but the unmistakable thickness of it could be seen around their neck nonetheless, like an opulent snake. It occurred to me that this, perhaps, was truly the way to show off: Keep most of what you have at a whisper, but keep just enough so loud that it won’t be forgotten.” — Reflecting on ten years of Boosie, Foxx and Webbie’s “Wipe Me Down.”
QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Is John Wall your favorite player in these playoffs? (Isiah is a fine choice too.) Guess it doesn’t really matter who wins that series because they all know what fate awaits them at the end.
Quote of the Week: “I don’t really start partying until I’m in the meatpacking district.” — John Choi
