In the 2000s a picturesque spot on the Manhattan waterfront started making a string of appearances in skate videos.
It was a pretty tall, green electrical box made of some industrial chainlink material, situated atop a decent-sized bank to bump. As spots in New York tend to, this one came and went and was cut altogether from the itineraries of skaters coming through the city.
Luckily, New York has a Good Samaritan by the name of Jerry Mraz, who is known locally for building and repairing spots on his own dime and time. He’s patched up spots like the crusty Con Edison Banks deep in Queens, has helped start up a DIY park in Long Island City and so much more over the years that listing them out would look more like a cook book.
We’ll put it this way: odds are, if you’ve skated in New York City, you’ve skated a spot that has been aided by Jerry & Co. in some form.
Since it was tough to recreate the spot exactly as it once was (there were no exact measurements anywhere, and it was a tall box to begin with), Jerry took a new approach and built a shorter, mellower box on the bank instead. He got a group to put it together in the wee hours of the night, away from the commotion of cyclists and tourists making their way down the river path.
And, because Jerry spares no expense to get spots built out as perfectly as possible, the nice people at HUF were down to chip in some cash so we could complete his vision for the rebuild. Of course, a couple of team riders had first dibs at skating the bench once it settled. Thanks guys!
We won’t drop the pin in hopes that it will last just a little longer this time, but if you want to go out and venture for yourself, this shouldn’t be too hard to find.
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October 7, 2020 6:45 pm
Looks so fun, kudos.
October 7, 2020 7:24 pm
Tight! It looks like it’s supposed to be there, too! Jerry’s a saint, indeed!
October 7, 2020 10:02 pm
Without Mraz, NYC skate scene wouldn’t have been what it is now.
October 8, 2020 12:34 am
So dope! Totally looks like it should be there so it might actually last. To the people hating on this: Why? What’s to hate about a spot getting the DIY treatment? It ain’t like you had to lift a finger off your keyboard or that giant bag of Cheetos to go out and help.