Last night I was going through the Hi8 Jenkem family archives, and amongst footage of birthdays, concerts, that one time we went to Alcatraz, and various other family affairs there was a few minutes of old Brooklyn Banks footage from 1993. Now, this isn’t the best footage out there by any means, barely any tricks are landed, and the camera seems to zoom in and out as it pleases, but that doesn’t mean it is completely worthless. If you never got the chance to go to the Banks to witness the magic of the place for yourself, here is a small window into the past when that was possible. If you squint hard enough, you might even see some flashes of Pancho Moller, Rodney Torres, Harold Hunter, and maybe even a younger version of yourself.
Today, the Banks are still off limits since they’re being used as a storage space to house building materials while they work on repairing the Brooklyn Bridge. But there are always rumors swirling about these hallowed bricks being once again skateable, so we hit up Steve Rodriguez, the founder of 5Boro and noted NYC skatespot activist, to get the inside scoop on what’s up with them:
“After news earlier this year from the Department of Transportation that the Brooklyn Banks would be re-opening this Summer… nothing. It’s still not open and I’ll be attending community board meetings in the coming months to try and get answers as to the status of the bridge project that has been delaying the opening. When it does open, my goal is to completely renovate it with donated money (which I already have commitments for).” – Steve Rodriguez
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November 3, 2015 1:03 pm
Sick!
November 3, 2015 1:08 pm
who is skating before harold @ 2:35?
November 3, 2015 1:17 pm
So basically what Steve Rodriguez is saying is that there’s no real update.. that we are still waiting mysteriously. yes?
November 7, 2015 12:46 pm
The area is basically like that motorboat that your neighbor has stored in his backyard for 7 years and you try to ask “when is he gonna move that thing?”
November 9, 2015 10:42 am
it looks like a scene from “i am legend”
November 3, 2015 1:21 pm
Give a big thanks to the dude that hooked you up with this footage nerds