The world famous and iconic NYC skate spot "The Brooklyn Banks"  which ironically isn't even in Brooklyn, but just under the Brooklyn Bridge on the Manhattan side might be a wrap starting this past January due to construction on the bridge above... One can't tell at this point but being put onto this video of Mike hearing about the construction, he hopped on a plane and came to NYC and shot this pretty emotional video about his memories and importance of this place... Which brought me to do some of my own research  on the banks, it's crazy to see now in 2010 the impact the banks has on the culture of skateboarding.  They actually made little toy replicas of the banks! Not to mention at some point they even turned the area into a legitimate area dedicated to skateboarding. Prior to that happening I'm thinking around 99??? they turned it into a parking lot for police cars hoping that would deter the kids from coming through and ripping the place up.... anyways, here's some pics I found while taking a skate down memory lane of this historic NYC Skate spot....

that's bananas to me.....  all it's missing is a CYCLE throw up...


photo credit unknown.

photo credit unknown.


Shep knows the deal.... coming from Rhode Island( I think ) I'm pretty sure he would come out to skate the banks in the 90's.


Just seeing this also blows me away ( no rainbow ) that this place actually had huge organized events.  Back before all of this it was just a dirty ass  shadowed area under a highway that coulda' been an excluded scene for the movie KIDS. Knuckleheads, fights, kids getting vicked for their boards and shoes daily, a local's only feeling that if you weren't down with the regulars you weren't snaking anyone for a run, you played your position and waited for your turn. On top of that street rule, the swagger some of these guys had was that they could kill anyone wit their bare hands, take their board and skate away like nothin, you really weren't fuckin' with these guys. But that was the animal that NYC was back then.... Long gone now. Now the "scene" is a block long line of Asian kids lining up for a pair of exclusive NIKE SB's and a Supreme hat when they don't even know how to skate. Oh no wait, this week it's all about solid black track bikes... What's around the bend? Extreme power knitting? don't even laugh, shit is fucked up now in the rotten apple....
     Guy in green shirt " watch it son, you don't wanna end up woven into that contraption"

POST EDIT: These great images courtesy of CYCLE cyclewashere.com