#TRENDWATCH2017 — 3rd Eye Vision at Columbus Park

Columbus Park had a storied ascent to the throne as Manhattan’s most skated street spot. Over a decade has passed since it was simply a kinked ledge or an eight-stair rail that our more talented colleagues could ollie over the top of. People began to skate up the two-block and indulge in combo tricks down the ledge, but something was…missing. Have sex with the same person enough times and you’ll find yourself hinting at deeply suppressed desires via the casual “hey, wouldn’t it be funny if we ____.” The same could be said about spots that have managed to avoid knobs for 10+ years.

Given his open line of communication with Jah, it should come as no surprise that Yaje Popson was one of early proponents of Columbus Park’s nouvelle vague — via grinding the vertical part of the handrail before riding down the steps, and by angling his third eye towards the perpendicular at the now-mundane and lesser-seen kinked ledge.

But brains have been expanding at Mulberry and Worth Street early into the fall #trend season, most visibly in the 917 video, where Alex Olson’s one-time favorite skateboarder, Chris Millic, presented us with a three-pronged route from one level of the court to the other, and basically permanent Q.S.S.O.T.Y., Max Palmer, found a corner to the same ledge that nobody else had dared to examine.

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Remember

Photo by Matt Weber

Still a surreal day on the calendar every year. Over the years, we have done several posts regarding how that day shaped our tiny corner of New York — An Interview With Zered Bassett About the Vicious Cycle House (several blocks from Ground Zero circa 2002-2003), February 2002 Transworld Article re: 9/11, Twin Towers skate photos, Twin Towers skate clips 1996-2001.

You’re in for an onslaught of recap content throughout the internet, but the Dime Glory Challenge was absolutely brilliant. Forever grateful to be skateboarding on the earth at the same time in history as these brilliant Canadian minds.

Watermelonism has some new embroidered tees and hats.

“What was harder to do: switch big flip Chinatown Double-Set or switch backside flip D7?” NY Skateboarding has a solid interview with Tyshawn Jones, reigning “Did you hear what _____ did?!” king of New York City.

Transworld interviewed Josh Kalis about the greatest kickflip ever done™.

We’re the last ones to continue beating the dead horse of varial flip pontification, but the one (you’ll know which one…) in Sami El Hassani’s all-around brilliant new clip for Pop Trading Company deserves some extra attention.

People began skating the new Harlem skatepark on 114th Street and First Avenue (conveniently located between Haiji’s and Patsy’s) this past week. Looks kinda like Cooper Park tbh. Troy posted a clip from it, but there are a few more floating around.

Yaje Popson warms up with avocados and nollie half cab switch backside 5-0s. No wonder he’s the only native T.F. local with his name on a skateboard ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

People are still pissed about you skating the plaza on 110th and 8th, and hopes for a new Byrdgang video are high in the QS office. Here’s a teaser for Byrdgang 3.

(When is Hijinx 2 dropping though?)

Here’s the raw footage from Dane Baker’s part for Lottie’s Skate Shop.

Jenkem has a Prodigy tribute mix by skateboarding’s official Mobb Deep ambassador.

Four minutes of nollie backside 180 heelflips throughout history.

Vice posted up a deleted scene from Bam’s Epicly Later’d of Kerry and Bam skating Kerry’s backyard ramp in Pennsylvania. Party at my house for the Muska one.

Quote of the Week: “I can’t wear blue, it’s a color.” — Girl Wearing All Black in the Dime Store

Happy belated birthday, Roy Ayers.

It All Started With a Manual — The Skateable History of Columbus Park

Skate spots are living, breathing things. They shift with the socioeconomic climate of the time, and position themselves to best adapt with people’s needs. Skateboarding has always been reflective of greater society, so it should come as no surprise that our lives were pushed into Columbus Park as we began to get pushed out of the pricier, glossier haunts that we once frequented in lower Manhattan.

Columbus Park sits on ominous ground. It was built on top of what was once America’s first slum: a hotbed of vice, disease, murder and clashes for control that have been documented in many books and films. Though it would take decades for the neighborhood to rid itself of the notoriety it earned throughout the 19th century, the city built Columbus Park in 1897. A hundred years passed, and then a guy from Clifton, New Jersey came along. The park began its second life as one of the few downtown spots you can skate in 2017 without getting kicked out.

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Summer Mondays

Was contemplating taking a four-day weekend and not posting Monday Links until Wednesday, but got enough people in the office to cruise around the internet for a bit. Russ got MVP, Phil got fired and Tyshawn fakie ollied a trash can in front of Supreme since the last Monday Links post, and all of those things feel like they happened a month ago…(Don’t know who took the photo above btw.)

Quick one of Sean Pablo at the Brooklyn Banks.

Omg, Kohlton and a Logan sighting in the same clip. Do we begin a change.org petition for a joint part? New summer iPhone montage from Genny.

There are a bunch of Alltimers boys in the Blue Collar Hardware video, made by the same minds as the Green Apple videos a la secretly some of the most influential videos of the past ten years / the first influence Peter cites in any Bronze-related interview / lol at people in comments calling it a Bronze bite.

Romain Batard uploaded a “Summer Trip to New York” montage with one of the cooler recent lines at Fredrick Douglas Plaza. Also, why does it seem like that spot almost exclusively appears in “_____ Trip to New York” videos?

LurkNYC put together another Hotel Blue montage + another NY Times outtakes clip.

Theories of Atlantis got all urban planner on us and broke down Robert Moses’ circumstantial influence on New York skate spots — though not sure Stuy-Town is really an actual spot for normal humans.

Seems like it has been a big past couple of years for spots resurrecting. Here’s an interview about the effort to restore London’s Southbank undercroft to its original form from pre-2004. (Small Banks helllllooooo.)

You probably caught this one already: Nick Ferro dropped a rad part for Grand Collection. No rapper did anything too cool with that beat and it’s sad :(

All the illicit uploads kept getting deleted, but Yaje’s part from Riddles is now online.

Tennyson came through with yet another 411 remix, this time of Kareem Campbell and Donger. Essential viewing, especially the Kareem demo / contest footage. Wow.

Both of these are heavy on the art and minimal on the tricks, but maybe you’re into that ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ … Krooked in NYC, and a longform “One Night in New York” Cons commercial with Aaron Herrington and Brian Delatorre.

Quote of the Week
Hungry Gentleman: “I’m thinking about going to Lil’ Frankie’s.”
Jesse Alba: “Damn, you have that much cash on you?”

When you wear a Saturdays hoody on your mixtape cover but your shit goes…

The 2017 Shirtless Kebab Tour

connor

C. Champion via W. Dada

“Every time you disprove the prejudices of a pedestrian, you win a small victory that reverses the erosion of our collective social capital.” As sarcastic as we may get about the tired “skaters see the world differently” trope, there’s always something reassuring in our ability to — on on some tiny level — leave the world better than it was before, provided we stop sitting around talking shit about pants for long enough. Caught in the Crossfire’s “Four Small Ways Skateboarding Can Change the World” is inspiring, intelligent and heartwarming writing for a tough world right now.

On that note, #respect x999999 to Young Will and everyone in Providence, Rhode Island. “If you have an idea, for pity’s sake run with it, for the good of us all.”

Half a million pounds of Love Park granite is being shipped to Malmö, Sweden. Shout out to all the cities and people doing cool shit to make humans’ time on earth better.

If you guys in the comments are calling Shanahan a “’99 Kalis deadringer,” you better brace yourselves for the ’99 Stevie version because its really really real.

Ugh, Jake ♥ Just wait on it

This might be an illegal link, but here’s Yaje’s Riddles in Mathematics part til it gets taken down. Non-sketchy link to buy the video here. Sorry TWS, it’s Yaje ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

“One day’s lifted bar soon becomes the next day’s hurdle to be ollied, and later kickflipped, and eventually kilty mcbagpipped for an after-credits clip set to a whimsical indie-rock tune.” — Boil the Ocean explores ledge skating’s shrinking middle class, via the lens of Tiago’s switch back tail™. And yes, YouTube debaters, Antonio could’ve easily been #1 but Tiago got it for the trick’s status as a “culture-unifying moment.”

The most entertaining raw files clip in a really long time: A full 18 minutes from Na-Kel Smith’s X-Games “Real Street” part. Most elastic slams in the business too :)

ICYMI: Johnny made a clip of Cyrus and some Nike SB boys skating in Texas.

Skater types.” Facepalm emoji ya.

Dumb: The Story of Big Brother Magazine is now available to stream on Hulu. (You may need to put in your card info for a free trial blah blah blah.) You can read and disagree with the QS review here.

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*Non-Skate Related Alert* The latest episode of 99% Invisible deals with abandoned buildings, squatters, riots, and everything else surrounding Tompkins Square Park in the 80s and 90s. “You got guns? We got piss buckets.” Shout to Mostly.

Quote of the Week: “The price isn’t the problem. Pryce is the problem.” — Dallas Todd

I learned frontside flips via Pryce’s Seaport line A.K.A. have never fully *flipped* one in my life. They still count in S.K.A.T.E. though ;) Thanks Pryce.