Skateboarding
Skateboarding
Red Bull Boarding Pass NYC: A Rainy Day with the Best of East Coast Skate
Skate shops, teams and contests are key to skateboarding culture. Despite rain, a Brooklyn event hosted by Steve Rodriguez thrived with skaters from the East Coast showing their skills and DIY spirit.
The Red Bull Boarding Pass at NYC recently gathered regional skate shop teams for a squad vs squad event, with prize money for best tricks and best riders, and a chance to win an all-expense trip to Minneapolis for the Red Bull Ensemble, in August.
That was the plan anyway . . .
On a recent Saturday, top skaters representing shops along the East Coast and throughout New York did indeed gather at Brooklyn’s Ocean Hill.
The event was scheduled to start at noon.
It did not.
All morning, as riders arrived in Ubers, taxis, and on foot, a cold rain fell on Brooklyn.
And fell. And fell some more.
The incessant downpour turned Ocean Hill into a floodplain. The rain drove skaters underneath tents, kept parents in their cars, and stirred up fond memories Steve Rodriguez, 54 and the elder statesman of NYC skateboarding.
Red Bull Boarding Pass NYC
© Cole Giordano
“Back in the day, you entered every contest,” he said, standing atop a transition, under a tent protecting a DJ booth and speakers. “The best skaters got sponsored by the local shop, and then you were on the team,” he said, “And that was it. It was on!”
Rodriguez was there to announce the contest, and was the undisputed best man for the job—skating and hosting contests for 40 years. Before he was an executive, activist, consultant, park designer, company owner, talent scout, husband, and father (of a talented skater), he was a kid from Sayreville, New Jersey—just good enough to make the team of his local shop, the defunct-but-not forgotten store called Feet First.
“We all wanted to hang out at shops because that’s where the culture was,” he said. “And we were all starved for that culture. Our shop was at the mall, because you’d always go to the mall in the 80s.”
“Man,” he said, “I’m freezing. Maybe my wife can Uber me a sweatshirt.”
He looked out over the wet course. One rider rolled past, leaving a low wake behind him.
“This will not stop us!” declared Angel Torres, his hood up and his face wet. A Trenton NJ native, Torres planned to skate the “best trick” event, and was here to support his cousin, TJ Hernandez Jr., riding for Underground skate shop in Nutley NJ.
Hernandez, 33, waited under a tent nearby with his teammates, David Mauvais and Jonathan Pine, both 30. The three met over 20 years ago, skateboarding.
Rain or no rain, they were anxious to skate. “Where we’re from—the East Coast— there’s weather,” he said. “So want to be outside. We want to skateboard.”
Hernandez watched his cousin, Torres, roll up to Rodriguez and bumped his fist.
“Hey!” Torres said, “You wanna meet my Pops?”
His Dad, Denny stood munching popcorn under another tent, huddled with a few other bundled parents, but mostly shop skaters, some of whom wore only t-shirts.
One was Imoh Ekasi-Otu, 30, who grew up in Fairfax, VA. Fifteen years ago he made the team at his local shop (also called Fairfax, est. 1976) and today is both a top rider and team manger (and, like Rodriguez, a community activist). Born in Nigeria, he came to the US, and found skating at age 8, much to his parents’ unhappiness. “They did not care for it,” he said, “But that’s why getting on the shop team was so cool—having that culture of support.”
Two more riders arrived, turning heads: Red Bull athletes Jiro Platt and Devin Flynn, both 19. They too wondered about the contest and the weather; unlike the others, they skated for no shop—mostly due to their level of talent. Volcom and Etnies came calling before they were in high school. They skipped shop sponsorship.
Jiro grew up skating the streets of Manhattan, where he was born and still lives today. The family’s Canal Street apartment was blocks from the iconic LES skatepark (formally called Coleman, but no one calls it that), and it was here where none other than Steve Rodriguez spotted Jiro and approached him and his Dad (a skater) about sponsorship.
Devin grew up in Oaklyn NJ, a scene more Philly than Jersey. “Crustier types of spots,” he says with a grin. He liked street but he loved park, and found a knack for transition (aka ramps) that he carries with him today.
The two first found each other on Instagram, then met at Camp Woodward. Despite their different backgrounds, both have had great success in contests, and both use the same word to describe their strategy: flow.
“Roll around and get used to the flow,” said Devin. “For contests, my thinking isn’t really what the judges wanted to see. I just want to have fun on my skateboard”
“Every skater will do the same thing in a contest,” said Jiro, “But every skater will do that thing different.”
Like most in attendance, they kept looking over at Rodriguez, who was meeting with contest brass. All had their phones open to weather apps, and the forecast was not good.
Red Bull Boarding Pass NYC
© Cole Giordano
A decision was made: Scrap the contest and play a game of SKATE.
SKATE is the rawest classical form of skate competition: no clocks, no judges, no scores. One skater does a trick, and the other skater has to copy it, or get a letter. Think of HORSE in basketball…
The contest began.
Beats issued forth, a thoughtful mix of New York artists: From Tribe Called Quest to the Beastie Boys, to Notorious BIG, who grew up in Bed-Stuy one neighborhood north of the park. Jiro and Devin did not skate, instead climbing up on the island they’d been eyeing to get a front row seat.
The dark sky dulled to gray, the rain slowed to a sprinkle.
Skaters began conservatively, demonstrating tricks that were new when Rodriguez started out 40 years ago: Kickflips, shove-its, Half-cabs.
Momentum picked up, and things advanced, but not without hazard.
On a backside flip, Ekasi-Out’s board fishtailed with a squelching sound, but he stayed on.
“Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude,” yelled his teammate Quinn Harbin, 18. “You got that!”
Another rider did spilled on a full-cab. “Oh!” Rodriguez exclaimed. “The rain got that one!”
All shops’ riders demonstrated great flat-ground ability—from varials, to switchflips, to heeflips, to switch varial heels—but in the end, two powers surfaced: Fairfax and Underground.
The rain slowed to a stop. The crowd grew, and grew louder. Faces appeared in windows overhead. A lady came out on her balcony to get a photo.
“Text me that picture?” Rodriguez asked, and gave her his number. “Thank you!”
In the end Underground’s Jonathan Pine, 30, landed a Nollie Backside Flip. Team Fairfax tried, then tried again, but couldn’t do it, giving Underground the victory.
Standing at opposite sides of the park, the two teams came together, bumping fists, shaking hands, and bro hugging. Other skaters joined them, including Jiro and Devin.
Prize money was divvied up among the skaters, to replace their waterlogged boards.
Everyone was wet and cold, but the vibe wasn’t unhappy.
Underground posed for pictures with their new decks, and a plaque.
“It was kinda fun, to be honest,” said Hernandez. “The rain made it fun.”
