Building stuff is hard – it takes time, commitment, money and there’s always the risk of fucking up or your creation being torn down the next day. And at a time in skateboarding when Street League plazas and pre-fab ramps are popping up more quickly than ever, D.I.Y. ethos and creating your own spots is becoming more and more scarce. Metropolitan areas such as SF & NY make it even more challenging, with escalating rent costs and rapid gentrification – space is never safe or vacant long.

With that in mind, we drove over to New Jersey to continue our Locals series with Levi’s skateboarding and talked to one of the builders behind Shorty’s – one of the biggest and most recognizable D.I.Y. spots on the east coast. Created by a bunch of skateboarders and friends that live in a bootleg skate house nearby, what started as a couple of obstacles in a empty warehouse down the street in 2011 has since become a full blown park.

Photography: Rob Miceli & Andrew Mcgouglin
Filmed By: Sean Colello
Edited By: Sam Fickinger
Additional footage courtesy of: Andrew Petillo & Wes Van Heest
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