Story, photos and video by Jessica Lawson

Under the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge and across from Police Plaza in downtown Manhattan, a paradise exists. Strewn with trash and graffiti, the steep brick slope embankments that support the entrance ramps for the iconic bridge have been an internationally known and fabled skate spot for decades. Chances are most New Yorkers have never heard of Brooklyn Banks. But for a select few, it defines the city and its action sport scene.

“Not only is this a skate spot, it’s a tourist attraction, it’s a landmark. This place is famous,” said Zippy Zeitlin, 14. “Not only for skateboarding but for the place itself. It’s an amazing place.” Zeitlin, a Brooklyn native, has been skating the banks since he was six years old.

Much to the disappointment of those who frequent the park, the Parks Department, which owns the land, announced in October that the Department of Transportation would be using the area as a staging ground and storage area for rehabilitation work on the Brooklyn Bridge, leaving many without their favorite place to skate.

The skating and BMX community centered around the Brooklyn Banks waited anxiously for several months for the official details of the rehabilitation project to emerge. On Dec. 3, the Dept. of Transportation announced that the entire banks would be closed for at least the first half of 2010. The city has yet to announce whether a portion of the banks will be reopened to skaters during the remainder of the renovation work, which is expected to last until 2014, but advocates are keeping their fingers crossed.

This is not the first time that the fate of the Brooklyn Banks has been in peril. Although a haven for freestyle and street skaters since at least the early 80s, the spot is not an official skate park. In 2004, the city closed the plaza for renovations and intended to make the entire 2.75-acre space a green area.

For at least the last five years, Steve Rodriguez, 38, has become the banks’ de facto spokesperson. When the spot was threatened in 2004, he worked with the Parks Department to ensure that once renovations were completed, the area would still be skateable. The city made good on their promise, and in 2005 the park reopened.

Now four years later, the banks was being threatened once again with closure. Word spread quickly in the skateboarding and BMXing communities, through word of mouth and blogs. It was Rodriguez’s intention to try and work with city officials by getting them to agree to either shorten the timeframe that the park would be unrideable by pushing for construction in stages, or at least keep a small portion of the banks open for skating.

It’s easy to see why Rodriguez, owner of 5boro Skateboards, is so invested in preserving the spot. He has been skating the Brooklyn Banks for nearly 25 years and has hosted a popular skateboard competition, Back to the Banks, on site since 2005. “I care about where I live, what I’ve skated, the cultural significance of this spot to kids and adults that grew up skating here. I think it’s something worth fighting for, a part of New York City,” he said. “I saw people come before me become involved in their community and make things better for me, so I figure I have to do that for them, or the next generation.”

Other skaters were equally frustrated with the back and forth struggle to save the banks. Dave Caddo, a pro skateboarder with sponsorships from Adidas and Creation has been skating the Brooklyn Banks for 10 years. “We already fought once to get it saved and now to go through all that with the city. What do they think, go through all that, let us turn it into a park, but a couple years later, ‘Never mind, we’re just going to shut it down’ I’m sure they could figure out something else to do besides just using this for construction storage, or could at least use a section for it and leave a section open…I mean look at the place, it’s just a piss poor area, there’s bird crap every where, it’s just disgusting, why not let us skate it?” Caddo said one afternoon between runs at the park.

On a cool and sunny recent Saturday afternoon, Brooklyn Banks was packed. Despite the fact that there was a skate event only 10 blocks away at Coleman Park in the Lower East Side, at least 100 people were skating, BMXing or performing tricks on Razor scooters. On weekends when the weather is gracious, people from all over the five boroughs, New Jersey and even tourists come to practice their craft, meet up with friends, and document themselves performing complicated stunts. In the action sports world where groups can be cliquish and fragmentary, BMXers and skaters coexist here, weaving in and out from each other trying to nail the same obstacles.

To those outside of the realm of extreme sports, it may be difficult to understand why there is such a fuss about the spot. The city Parks Department operates nine skate parks throughout the five boroughs, but most of these require a signed consent waiver, helmets and safety pads, and a majority of them do not allow bikes. Not to mention, the parks are all man-made expressly for the purpose of skating. The Brooklyn Banks is unique, in that it was never intended to be used as a skate park; rather, it came to be organically with obstacles sprouting naturally thanks to the urban planning and design of M. Paul Friedberg.

“The guy who designed this had no idea he was designing one of the best skate parks in the world. And that’s what makes it even better, it’s authentic,” said Rodriguez.

Friedberg, who was interviewed for a recent documentary about skateboarding in New York City called “Deathbowl to Downtown,” agrees that he never intended for the space to be used for a recreational area, but finds it interesting that that’s what the banks have become. ” What is fascinating to me is how we interpret out environment, how we use our imagination to do things, involve ourselves in activities that were not intended. We create an opportunity out of what we see.”

While there’s no doubt that people will find other places to skate and BMX while the city works on rehabbing the bridge, it will be hard to match the excitement of skating in such a legendary and uncommon spot. “They’ll go in the street, they’ll go where the community doesn’t want them to go. They want to ride where people before them have ridden, they want to ride these banks, they want to skate this sacred ground,” said Rodriguez.

Zeitlin agrees with Rodriguez, “Every other park is so industrialized and made for skateboarding. This is the only street spot where it’s safe to go, where people don’t kick you out and it’s still a gnarly spot where you can skate and have fun without having to deal with security guards or crack heads.”

In the months since first hearing of the imminent closure of the renowned skate spot, Rodriguez kept in touch with the Dept. of Transportation and a Community Outreach and AICP Certified Planner for the project Sabrina Lau. Rodriguez was optimistic that the Dept. of Transportation would work with him and the community to come to some sort of compromise, while also being realistic and acknowledging that maintenance must get done on the Brooklyn Bridge.

The highly anticipated official statement from the city outlined that painting of the bridge is expected to begin around Jan. 15, 2010, at which time the park will be entirely closed. “After the painting work in this area is complete, anticipated for mid 2010, the park will be reopened with the exception of the storage area. The park will completely reopen when the rehabilitation is completed. DOT has been working closely with Steve Rodriguez, spokesperson for the Brooklyn Banks and the communities that use it, to share this space without compromising the vital reconstruction of the Brooklyn Bridge,” the release read.

As of now, it remains to be seen exactly what the fate of the park will be and whether the portion that is supposed to be reopened after painting will be skateable. Rodriguez is continuing to reach out to the Dept. of Transportation and asking to keep a small section of the south end of the park open to skaters and bikers during the construction period expected to last until 2014. He also said that he is reaching out to the Landmarks Preservation Commission to try and get the Brooklyn Banks landmarked.

In an email update to supporters of the skate spot with the official release and continuing plans, Rodriguez thanked everyone for their involvement and wrote, “The power of all of our communities who use the space has been felt and we have their full and complete attention.”

To those outside of the realm of extreme sports, it may be difficult to understand why there is such a fuss about the spot. The city Parks Department operates nine skate parks throughout the five boroughs, but most of these require a signed consent waiver, helmets and safety pads, and a majority of them do not allow bikes. Not to mention, the parks are all man-made expressly for the purpose of skating. The Brooklyn Banks is unique, in that it was never intended to be used as a skate park; rather, it came to be organically with obstacles sprouting naturally thanks to the urban planning and design of M. Paul Friedberg.

“The guy who designed this had no idea he was designing one of the best skate parks in the world. And that’s what makes it even better, it’s authentic,” said Rodriguez.

Friedberg, who was interviewed for a recent documentary about skateboarding in New York City called “Deathbowl to Downtown,” agrees that he never intended for the space to be used for a recreational area, but finds it interesting that that’s what the banks have become. ” What is fascinating to me is how we interpret out environment, how we use our imagination to do things, involve ourselves in activities that were not intended. We create an opportunity out of what we see.”

While there’s no doubt that people will find other places to skate and BMX while the city works on rehabbing the bridge, it will be hard to match the excitement of skating in such a legendary and uncommon spot. “They’ll go in the street, they’ll go where the community doesn’t want them to go. They want to ride where people before them have ridden, they want to ride these banks, they want to skate this sacred ground,” said Rodriguez.

Zeitlin agrees with Rodriguez, “Every other park is so industrialized and made for skateboarding. This is the only street spot where it’s safe to go, where people don’t kick you out and it’s still a gnarly spot where you can skate and have fun without having to deal with security guards or crack heads.”

In the months since first hearing of the imminent closure of the renowned skate spot, Rodriguez kept in touch with the Dept. of Transportation and a Community Outreach and AICP Certified Planner for the project Sabrina Lau. Rodriguez was optimistic that the Dept. of Transportation would work with him and the community to come to some sort of compromise, while also being realistic and acknowledging that maintenance must get done on the Brooklyn Bridge.

The highly anticipated official statement from the city outlined that painting of the bridge is expected to begin around Jan. 15, 2010, at which time the park will be entirely closed. “After the painting work in this area is complete, anticipated for mid 2010, the park will be reopened with the exception of the storage area. The park will completely reopen when the rehabilitation is completed. DOT has been working closely with Steve Rodriguez, spokesperson for the Brooklyn Banks and the communities that use it, to share this space without compromising the vital reconstruction of the Brooklyn Bridge,” the release read.

As of now, it remains to be seen exactly what the fate of the park will be and whether the portion that is supposed to be reopened after painting will be skateable. Rodriguez is continuing to reach out to the Dept. of Transportation and asking to keep a small section of the south end of the park open to skaters and bikers during the construction period expected to last until 2014. He also said that he is reaching out to the Landmarks Preservation Commission to try and get the Brooklyn Banks landmarked.

In an email update to supporters of the skate spot with the official release and continuing plans, Rodriguez thanked everyone for their involvement and wrote, “The power of all of our communities who use the space has been felt and we have their full and complete attention.”