The neighborhoods we’re raised in play a big influence on how we talk, our personality, and even things like our diets. While those may seem like obvious truths, skaters are especially susceptible to becoming products of their environments compared to the average joe.
Skaters will always be more likely to explore nooks and crannies and discover everything their communities have to offer, especially compared to kids who just sit around at home playing Minecraft.
You can learn a lot about someone by taking a trip to their original stomping grounds, so we decided to launch this little series where we revisit skaters’ old neighborhoods to see what the streets and spots can reveal to us about their early lives and maybe even their current selves.
For our first episode, we visited Manhattan’s Upper West Side with Eli Morgan Gesner of Zoo York and SHUT fame. The neighborhood has undergone a lot of changes since its heyday in the ’90s when Eli was growing up there, right when it was the setting for popular sitcoms like Seinfeld and Friends.
Watch as Eli takes us on a tour to check out some of the spots where he first fell in love with skating and gives us a bit of an Uptown skate history lesson along the way.
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March 1, 2022 7:15 pm
This was fantastic. Eli is an amazing storyteller. Would pay big money to get a skate history tour of NYC from him or Steve Rodriguez
March 1, 2022 10:07 pm
Damn I am sooo stoked on this new feature! Fucking love spot history, and linking old footage with current day time and place. Make this a Jenkins staple 🙏🏼❤️
March 2, 2022 3:14 pm
These ideas you guys have can be hit or miss but this was definitely a hit. Excellent idea, implementation, etc. Bonus points for adding all your titling in Helvetica to the NYC map. Well done.
March 2, 2022 4:11 pm
@dazzblake_ with that cleaan front shuv go follow him