New York City’s Roosevelt Island features a memorial park that was designed 40 years ago, by an architect (Louis Kahn) who died in 1974, according to a story in the New York Times. Just look a this place? It’s difficult to believe that Kahn wasn’t thinking of skateboarders when he designed this.
Next month, on that triangular plot on the southern end of Roosevelt Island, the four-acre Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park will open, a belated and monumental triumph for New York and for everyone who cares about architecture and public space.
Apparently, the NYT’s architecture critic Michael Kimmelman is already worried about skateboarders.
Preserving the site will be a challenge. The park is pristine to a fault. Policing graffiti artists and skateboarders must be weighed against the park’s freedom theme.
Someone might want to get down there to skate it before it gets completely shut down. Has Jaws dropped this 23 set yet? And just wait until it snows. . . . More images after the jump. [click to continue…]
A 18 or 19-year-old skateboarder from Watsonville, California has been rolling around grabbing women’s asses for the past could weeks and police (and area women) are hoping the catch the perv, according to a story in the Mercury News.
About 6 p.m. Sunday, a man who appeared 18 or 19 years old rode a skateboard near Riverside Drive and Lincoln Street, said Sgt. Saul Gonzalez. . . He approached a 35-year-old woman from behind, grabbed her backside and fled. . . About 3:25 p.m. Friday, police believe the same man was near Palm and Hill avenues when he approached a 13-year-girl. He also grabbed her, Gonzalez said. . . A 29-year-old woman was attacked similarly about 4:30 p.m. Sept. 3 near Lincoln Street and East Lake Avenue, Gonzalez said.
We don’t even know what to say. There are some sick people rolling around out there.
With 28 days to go the Stanford guys behind Boosted Boards have already reached its $100,000 Kickstarter fundraising effort for their electric longboard They are calling this rig “the most practical longboard ever.”
That’s because in addition to being an amazing ride, it’s also the perfect last-mile vehicle. When it comes to short trips, you can finally stop worrying about parking, traffic, garages, gas stations, pedaling, bike locks, pushing, and hills. Run quick errands, commute to work, get around campus, or link up with public transit, up to 6 miles before recharging. But most importantly, you’ll enjoy the ride everyday.
Click the link for more info or to help fund one of nicest looking powered skateboards we’ve ever seen.
This week watch as Gary Rogers gets his helmet shoes polished with Gary Rogers Shoe Cleaner and yet still figures out a way to get blown away at the end. Nice work, Mr. Rogers.
The skateboard outreach program in Kabul, Afghanistan, Skateistan, lost four kids (including one of their skate instructors, Khorshid pictured right) this weekend (September 8, 2012) when a teenage suicide bomber attacked near NATO headquarters at the entrance of Camp Eggers, according to a story on NPR.com.
“From the start, Khorshid (whose name translates to ‘happy’ in English) stood apart with a tough, cheeky and sensitive personality, smiling no matter what troubles she had to deal with day-to-day,” the program reports. “She knew what she wanted in life and wasn’t afraid to fight for it despite having more responsibilities and sorrows than a child should ever have.” . . Nawab, 17, also died. He was one of the first boys in the program and was known as having one of best kickflips. . . Parwana was Khorshid’s younger sister. She was just 8-years-old. Assad, the program says, was not a skater but he was family and well known at the skatepark.
The Taliban was reportedly targeting the “CIA” in the blast. Our thoughts are with the families of the four kids who were killed and with the entire Skateistan organization.
Carlos Salas, a 20-year-old skateboarder from Laguna Nigel, California was hit and killed by “an alleged hit-and-run driver” according to a story on CBSlocal.com.
The accident happened just before 4 a.m. on Golden Lantern and Marina Hills Drive. . . Authorities said Carlos Salas was on his skateboard when he was hit and dragged 25 feet by the car. . . He was found in the road and taken to the hospital, where he later died.
Orange County Sheriff’s investigators say the young victim was skateboarding home from a friend’s place around 3:48 a.m. when black 1998 Nissan Maxima plowed into him, dragging him southbound along Golden Lantern …
The Nissan, which was later found abandoned, is registered to a man in Dana Point, California, however no arrests have been made.
Is there a gap between Jerry Hsu in real life and the gnar that showed up in Stay Gold? Did Louie Barletta put down Lance Mountain’s favorite video part? These questions and more get tossed out as Erica Yary and Rob Brink host away.
Chis Nieratko dives in on the Stereo Skateboards story with Chris Pastras and Jason Lee.
Pastras gives us a tour of his home town Metuchen, NJ and shows us some of his favorite old skate spots. Then the guys meet with Lee in the park to talk about how Stereo has evolved today from what it was originally. Lee shares his take on the return of Stereo, getting back into skating after his long hiatus and what he wants to accomplish working with the brand.
A 25-year-old who was waterskiingskateboard towing behind a white pick up truck on the Pacific Rim Highway on August 31, 2012 ended up in Vancouver General Hospital after suffering “serious head injuries,”, according to a story in the Westerly News.
The man was allegedly riding a skateboard while holding onto a rope attached to the back of a white pick up truck when he lost control and fell. . . The incident occurred between Ucluelet’s cemetery and Surf Junction Campground at about 7 p.m.
Owned by VF Corporation, Vans shoes contracts with factories that use sweatshop-style labor but show signs of improvement. A study done by corporate responsibility group As You Sow said that VF’s transparency is bad, but it is working toward bettering the lives of its factory workers. Social Grade: C.
Although it still uses dangerous chemicals in the manufacturing of its shoes, Vans is starting to move in the direction of becoming an eco-friendly company, by participating in events with the organization Beach Clean Up, as well as hosting e-waste disposal. Environmental Grade: C.
Nike did even worse, of course:
Nike, the world’s largest sporting-goods maker, has had a long and troubled history of sweatshop conditions and employee abuse at factories that make its products. . . . There are several third-party reports that corporal punishment is used in some factories that make Nike products and that in the primarily female work force, workers who become pregnant are fired. . . Social Grade: F.
Nike does, however, have several environmental programs, which include the use of organic cotton and recycling used rubber. Environmental Grade: B.
Nice to know that even the high schoolers know what’s up when it comes to footwear.
