Kind of ignored this thread but just got around to reading through it. Good stuff. Nice to hear all the opinions on skating in the city after being here for 3 months and forming my on. So here's my spiel: After having lived here for this short amount of time, visited tons before, I'm already kind of over it. It's kind of a love/hate relationship but I've come to the conclusion NYC is a rad place to visit but I'm just personally not a New Yorker or a city person I suppose.
All the old heads always say back in the day when you saw someone skating you were instantly friends but not so much anymore. This is true for most places but to me NYC is the epitome of it. I think it's just New Yorkers Mentalities in general though. People just don't say high and instantly become friends out here even if you have some common bond. There's a few skate shops out here that are "core" I guess you could say but it's not like shops in the midwest or even cali. Decks are expensive and a lot of the places couldn't seem to give two shits about skating because they're more about the fashion. Supreme? Fuck paying $125 for some plaid flannel. I want a fucking shop deck.
All the local NYC boards suck. Those "I skate NYC" decks are fucking horrible. Pretty much, I'm agreeing that NYC skating seems to be all about the trends and I've come across very few people who seem to just have love for skateboarding. If one day skateboarding instantly was considered lame, I feel like lots of kids here would just drop it - throw their boards in the trash. Here's another thing. Kids seem so competitive with it out here in a sort of dog eat dog way. Not skatepark etiquette, just snake if you gotta. I've seen only a hand full of people out here that I enjoyed watching skating. Everyone's got such horrible style. I mean, I've seen some kids do some crazy shit but it's usually a little hard on the eyes and they do the fuckin' beam thing. I don't really like kids in general and NYC kids tend to be pretty fucking annoying.
The ground does suck out here but I can take it. Rough spots are fun to try and maneuver until you fall and the ground eats you alive. I don't honestly think all these kid's would still flock to these rough ass spots with pride if some really nice shit popped up though.
I don't understand why they can't fucking get the concrete mix right because the "weather" fucking it up doesn't seem right to me. Lots of spots over in Eastern Europe where the weathers way more extreme than NYC and shit's surreal when it comes to skating.
This is directly related to skateboarding but it seems worthy of mentioning. NYC is fucking haggard. People just seem to become content with the fact you're always gonna be pretty dirty - waiting in subways, walking around, yada, yada, yada. I've mentioned it to people before and gotten replies back with some shit like they moved here to be gritty. I would have said before that NYC girls are up on the looks scale but I'm kind of realizing it's just a sheer numbers game here.
A lot of the skate heads out here are kind of kooks. Billy Rohan is alright and has done a lot for skating out here but he's kind of douchey. Gives off a slight bro vibe to me. Eli Reed is a little bro'ish as well but dude's still alright. Jason dill is alright but pretty extreme. Bobby Puleo has gone off the deep end. Quim Cardona is a cool ass dude. I can't think of anyone else right now.
NYC is a fucking great city but the skating aspect of it can be kind of annyoing. It's just high high/ low low sort of place. I've got a great job and have made a few really good friends out here but I'm still looking forward to when I get to move back out to LA.