NYC Mega Post
Flew 3,000 miles east to New York City this past weekend. I needed it in a bad way, getting out of town. Hung out with old friends—land pirates, most of them. Had a shitload of fun meeting new people and seeing new things. Dollar pizza slices. Rooftop rock shows. Heat and crazy humidity. My fill of skate missions; never wanting for laughter. Always, always looking for a good place to pee, hopefully indoors, hopefully not just having to crouch on the far side of a car and street pee but willing and able and hey that's how they do it in New York City.
First day, we skated through Brooklyn, bombed the Williamsburg bridge into Manhattan, pushed into oncoming traffic, pushed through side street gridlock, Nassau, Broadway, Wall, et cetera, et cetera, moved faster than the cars, snuck past bumpers, constantly pushing, miles and miles and miles. The perfect way to see the city—the grime, grit, and beauty. Ended it all on the East River ferry headed back to Williamsburg, standing there tired as dogs watching the city sink into the sunset and drinking tall boys in the wind.
Williamsburg, I liked it alright. I know Portland has its own high-grade infestation of cookie-cutter hipsters, but the Brooklyn hipsters—mom jeans for the girls and beards for the boys—they were out in numbers and kicking down a kind of "I live in New York" coolness that Portlanders just can't pretend at cuz I mean fuck, we live in a little ol hippy town in the woods.
As mentioned elsewhere, I have new buds from New Jersey and had to go see their towns and the rad spots that they've built. We drove west Newark-bound through the Holland tunnel to Shorty's—a renegade tranny-land inside a decaying warehouse, and then on to Junk Spot in Jersey City—a slab of cement sprawl turned magical DIY skatepark. The guys behind these zones, they're a cool crew of builders and rippers who just did shit themselves. Found a little patch of land, built a little beauty in the wasteland. In general, that's the kind of kinetic self-made creative energy that I'm most inspired by.
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Aaanyway, New York City—walked a hundred miles, drank 18 cups of coffee a day, spent a crap ton of money and didn't regret a single cent. Love all of those people and love that town—see you again soon, I hope!
