2-Hip Brooklyn Banks 1989: Part 1

The Brooklyn Banks were already legendary in the skateboard world when Ron Wilkerson decided to hold a contest there in 1989.  To get a go idea of what this place actually looked like, here's a video of Scotty Cranmer (pre-accident) and Ruben Alcantara, 15 to 18 years after the Meet the Street contest there, tearing the place up.  This is farther back under the Manhattan end of the Brooklyn Bridge, maybe 30-40 yards from where the 1989 contest was held.

The Brooklyn Banks were the de facto skatepark for all of New York City at a time when there were no skateparks in NYC.  The banks were made long ago, laid by brick layers of incredible skill.  They're all brick, but SMOOTH.  They start small and mellow near where the road on the bridge meets the ground level.  As you go back farther under the bridge, the banks got higher and higher.  There were support columns rising vertically out of the banks, which made for places to do small wall rides or skate wallies.  It's one of the most epic environments to ride skateboards or bikes, anywhere, that wasn't designed for skateboards or bikes.

I was one of the few lucky guys who actually got paid to go to Ron Wilkerson's 2-Hip Meet the Street contest there in the fall of 1989.  I'm going to tell that story over a series of posts on the new Block Bikes Blog.  Follow this link to check out part 1.

I have a new blog going, it's about building an art or creative business, or any small business.  You can check it out here:
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