New York City

[Sleazy]

Over the next few days I'll be in New York and I'll have a little time. I'd really like to be able to street skate something mellow but that has a New York vibe to it. I do a little self-filming. I'd also be interested in an iconic New York kind of food experience, whether that's some pizza place or whatever.

Also curious about local norms when it comes to being safe and not getting robbed and things like that.

[Mandatory Reload]

Mellow spots in Manhattan include Tompkins, the Brooklyn Banks (not actually that mellow to skate but no kickout factor), Columbus Circle, the Natural History Museum (go after it closes).  In Brooklyn, Borough Hall, K Bridge, or Blue Park are good meetup spots. I'd recommend just checking out the Quartersnacks spot guide, it has all the major stuff that you've seen in videos:

https://quartersnacks.com/spots/

Where are you staying? Lots of great food all over the city, can def make some recs if you know what area you'll be in.

If you're basically anywhere in Manhattan, North Brooklyn, or West Queens (most people visiting generally don't leave this area), I wouldn't worry about getting robbed. Anything you might hear about NYC being crime-ridden or whatever is extremely sensationalized and not based in reality, especially in those areas.

Cultural norms... Idk just don't be a dumbass basically. If you need to look at your phone for directions, step off to the side of the sidewalk and don't be in the way. Don't stop directly at the top of the stairs of the subway and look around trying to get your bearings, blocking people behind you. Wait until people get off the train before you get on. Just basic spatial awareness type shit. NYC is not as intimidating as people make it seem. You'll be fine

[The Mexican Nancy Chin]

The upper banks at brooklyn banks are finally open and are fun as hell! Try to keep manageable expectations though. While it isn't the craziest case of a spot being harder to skate in person, like the majority of bank and brick spots it's definitely hard to get used to and can be quite frustrating. Skated there on a trip to ny earlier last month and made an active decision to just cruise around and have fun doing ollies, kickturns and nollies and enjoy my time there rather than getting frustrated trying something harder. Had the time of life! Spot is super mesmerizing. Even spent a lot of my time just sitting down and tripping out at how crazy it is that this spots even exists haha Feels amazing that that place is real, both historically and architecturally

Also don't sleep on LES if you do feel like checking out a park. While it might not look that crazy on video, it is by far the funnest park I've ever skated. So much variety of low impact obstacles and fantastic flow. Park's a lot bigger than it usually seems on camera. It is true some of the locals are obnoxious as hell though haha but you should be fine

[frank]

def check out blue park, its a great vibe. This weekend is the Jenkem 999 contest which gets very buck

[Easy Slider]

I spent a few days in NYC last Summer. Between a lot of sightseeing and shopping, I squeezed in a session at the Brooklyn Banks on a Saturday morning. There were only a few dudes and the vibe was super relaxed, dudes cheering each other on and such.

 The banks are not as easy to skate as they look but I still managed a few tricks, including a kickflip after almost an hour long battle... But that's rather a testimony to my meager skillset than to the gnarliness of the sport. I also had very small wheels (below 45mm), a bit larger would have helped to get further up the banks. Here are my clips of the banks (the other clips are in Paris and Hamburg).



As for food, I did the typical touristy stuff, aka hotdogs at Gray's Papaya, cream cheese and lox bagel at Russ & Daughters, pizza slice at Bleecker Street Pizza, cheese cake at Junior's (they have several diners in Manhattan), donuts at Krispy Kreme. I was very happy with all of these food items. I also had a very good cheeseburger and the largest mille-feuille I ever saw at Au Cheval (33 Cortlandt Alley) but this requires a reservation as the place is always full.

Hope that helps.

[aguanewyork]

I spent a few days in NYC last Summer. Between a lot of sightseeing and shopping, I squeezed in a session at the Brooklyn Banks on a Saturday morning. There were only a few dudes and the vibe was super relaxed, dudes cheering each other on and such.

 The banks are not as easy to skate as they look but I still managed a few tricks, including a kickflip after almost an hour long battle... But that's rather a testimony to my meager skillset than to the gnarliness of the sport. I also had very small wheels (below 45mm), a bit larger would have helped to get further up the banks. Here are my clips of the banks (the other clips are in Paris and Hamburg).



As for food, I did the typical touristy stuff, aka hotdogs at Gray's Papaya, cream cheese and lox bagel at Russ & Daughters, pizza slice at Bleecker Street Pizza, cheese cake at Junior's (they have several diners in Manhattan), donuts at Krispy Kreme. I was very happy with all of these food items. I also had a very good cheeseburger and the largest mille-feuille I ever saw at Au Cheval (33 Cortlandt Alley) but this requires a reservation as the place is always full.

Hope that helps.

glad you got to skate and experience the banks. ironically an iphone can capture the scale and slope of the banks better than other cameras/lenses for better or worse imo. it's important to appreciate the history with respect to how grimy that place used to be as well (especially the big banks beneath the bridge onramp).

45MM wheels on that surface must have felt like off roading. exaggeration but those are plaza wheels for sure, which makes early 90's skating EMB with smaller wheels outrageous sounding.

your food list cracks me up -- man stuck to the absolute staples!

nice frontside flips btw

[Sleazy]

They look steep and crusty. Nice!

I ended up, just catching the subway and skating from place to place. I found a few random spots along the way.

It was amazing so fun