Book Review: The Accidental Playground

the accidental playground

As D.I.Y. spots have become more common over the past decade, the Brooklyn Volcano remains an anomaly. It was the first New York spot of its kind, and existed in a place that could have hypothetically grown into something the size of a skatepark. Given the route real estate has taken throughout the Bloomberg years, it will likely be the last of its sort. New York D.I.Y. spots are now one-offs in spaces that could not accommodate a full, skater-made skatepark.

Daniel Campo’s The Accidental Playground is a case study of the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal (BEDT), a onetime freight loading yard. The BEDT was home to the Volcano, a photogenic D.I.Y. spot overlooking the Manhattan skyline, seen in any skate magazine from the early 2000s. Campo is a former New York city planner and an architecture professor at Morgan State University. He is an advocate of “unplanned” public space, and writes The Accidental Playground to discuss the merits of when cities do not get involved with the recreational lives of their citizens, allowing them to “make their own environment.” These sort of spaces present a “get your hands dirty” alternative to the “manicured” nature of a Central or Prospect Park.

Compared to the restrictions faced in official parks, the BEDT was practically lawless within reason. Recreational use of the space was pioneered by dog walkers fed up with leash laws, but eventually gave way to a range of characters with interests that were not accommodated by other nearby parks. This included artists, a punk marching band, undocumented day laborers who could not procure on-the-books housing, and neighborhood residents who wanted to drink a beer outside without worry of an open container ticket. Campo considers skateboarding to have been the most sophisticated use of the space, though each group is afforded its own chapter in the book.

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Linkchasers 3

watson sw 360flip

Karl Watson — Switch 360 flip at Burritoville in 1994. Photo via Ryan Gee.

If you’re in Australia, you can buy QS gear with free shipping here.

Ryan Gee joins the ranks of Lucas Puig as one of two Instagram users producing watch-worthy IG videos. He’s been posting long lens B-roll angles of various notable tricks from the early 2000s, e.g. Brian Wenning’s switch back tail big spin, Stevie’s hardflip front nose, and Kalis’ Rockaway line. There are also some motion sequences on there too, e.g. Kalis’ fakie 5-0 over the three at Love or Kerry Getz at City Hall.

Sigh.

Rob Campbell: Renaissance Man.

You might remember an incredible natural-looking quarterpipe spot from the Busenitz “Euro Lines” video. Well, it’s quite obviously a skate plaza, albeit an insane one, based on this Austrian DC video. As Americans, how crazy is it that a city would allot such a prime swath of public space for the sole use of skateboarders?

Zered Bassett has a “Day in the Life”-type video with some cruiser footage and a photo feature over on the Dew Tour site. Who wants to go half on a Code Red?

Vice has an awesome biographical portrait piece on Brian Anderson, which covers a lot of his life since moving to New York. (There’s skating towards the end.)

Hey, you know that thing about skateboarding’s favorite jazz song? Yeah, it retained its title with the new Krooked circle board clip.

The Accidental Playground is a new book about unsanctioned use of the Williamsburg waterfront in the early 2000s, before it was redeveloped. Just ordered it off Amazon, so there’s no telling how much of its 300+ pages are dedicated to skateboarding, but given that there’s a skate photo on the cover, you’d think it’d be a big chunk.

Eighteen classic video parts are being screened alongside a live classical piano rendition of their respective songs.

Though a photograph of a skater holding a book does not verify literacy, the stories about managing skaters in a retail environment are priceless.

In light of the recent demise of Skateboarder, former staff writer, Mackenzie Eisenhour, scanned a 2002 interview with Steve Rocco, which was conducted five years before The Man Who Souled the World was even released.

If you’re good at skateboarding and like bumps to rails, it might affect you in knowing that the handicap rail on Bowery and 5th Street is gone. They cut the flat part out.

QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Derrick Rose is still faster than everyone.

Quote of the Week: “I learned more from Andre Page than I did from college.” — Will Carpio

What’s better: Dreamchasers 3 or the new Cam’ron tape?