The first year of the QS Cup Presented by Vans went down in Greenpoint, Brooklyn — just steps away from the onetime home of the world famous Autumn Bowl. Sixteen of the world’s best skaters were paired in an eight-race bracket, racing each other around our specially engineered pump track until only one skater was left standing with the trophy.
Photo by Sam McKenna
Interview by Farran Golding
The year started off with this series talking to Tony Hawk, so it felt appropriate to bring it closer to home as we wind it down.
Neil Herrick has the distinction of dropping one of the first great parts this year — filmed locally or otherwise — in Brandon Stepanow’s Open Container video, which is definitely worth running back if February feels like an eternity ago. It had a timeless, gimmick-free feeling of a section that could be dropped into any video from any era of street skating and fit, so we had Farran ask Neil about his inspirations.
There are spots that everyone always skates by and throws hypotheticals on: “one day, someone will ollie this gap,” “one day, someone will 5050 this rail.”
For years, people would throw out eventualities about the kinked rail beside the 53rd Street side of the Seagram Building, which is, of course, a Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed landmark, a onetime home of The Famous Expensive Restaurant™, and the site of the green step-up ledges that the building’s security guards have grown an increasing affinity for throwing water on.
As ride-on grinds expanded in popularity, that fantasy got adapted for the modern age: “imagine if someone grinded that.”
“That” being the ledge that ran beside the eight-flat-nine double set.
