Amazing skatepark in New Jersey that is only 20 Minutes from New York City

Check back soon for winter skateboarding trips from Manhattan
 

This park is amazing but tight. It’s about 1,200 square feet and every inch of space was well thought out.   These guys didn’t take a chance leaving anything out.  Not for newbies when it’s crowded, so go early if your learning because it’s a great place to learn if you have the space to figure it out. 

The Crew – The Regulars

I only met a few of the guys that worked there and they were cordial.  Great skaters too.  It was late, there were a few regulars and they were really good, but polite.  No snakes and only one small casualty-free collision. 

KILLER Bowl

This BOWL IS OFF THE HOOK - has 11 ½ foot deep end, 7 foot shallow and a roll in/out that connects to almost every line in the park.  All Pool coping though there’s a smaller 3 foot drop in that connects to the small bowl that it doesn’t have any coping.

Mini Ramps

There are two mini ramps, connected by a spine.  Also has a roll in that also connects to the vert ramp

Street Course

Ok this whole place is pretty much a street course, because the pool, the mini ramps and huge vert wall connect to a ton of clever obstacles, banks and barriers, stair set, rails, boxes.  It’s totally creative, and flows really well. 

Vert Wall

Then there’s the 12 foot vert wall.  Dude these guys just seem to float in the air when the backside this thing.  It’s really something to see…  (I did a little kick turn at the bottem.)

Location:

GardenSk8/DivisionEastII
321 Changebridge Rd
Pine Brook NJ 07058
973-287-7626

PARK HOURS:

• Monday 12-10
• Tuesday 12-9
• Wednesday 12-9
• Thursday 12-9
• Friday 12-11
• Saturday 9am -12pm* 2pm - 11pm Open Session
• Sunday 9am -12pm* 12pm - 8pm Open Session

* (Parties and Kids under 10 ONLY)

You can buy a gift certificate in $50 denominations using paypal. 

Each lesson is $50 for a one hour in one of several locations, depending on skill level

So we were really excited to get a call from about.com asking us if we were interested in shooting some skateboarding how to videos. There are four instructional skateboarding videos featuring instructors and local skaters from New York that can help you learn:

 Skateboarding.about.com

By Steve Cave
Steve Cave has been teaching skateboarding for 6 years through skate clubs, books, websites and magazines.

Avoid Altercations with Police and Pedestrians by being well informed.

I’m extremely courteous when I skate in the sidewalks because I really do believe in the karma thing, plus what kind of instructor would I be, right?  Sometimes people pick fights, they can’t help themselves and skaters are often targeted because of the perception some people have that we have no control over.

One afternoon I was walking up 1st Ave for eight blocks, but then on my one favorite patch of super smooth sidewalk between 80th and 81st, I stepped on my board, rolled super slow for about 20 feet of a half empty block and stopped in front of the closed dry cleaners to dig in my bag for my cell phone. 

Before I found it I was approached by an oncoming pedistrian.  She was no where near me for the brief ride, but she was angry and she was looking to pick a fight.  I’m not sure why she picked me, out of all the skaters in the world, maybe it was just opportunity.  Maybe she was having a bad day, but this was obviously a woman who was ready to make a scene, I could see it before she even opened her mouth.

"Excuse me but are you aware of the city public ordinances about skating on the side walk?" She asked me, wagging her finger.

"Actually, I am quite aware of them because I’m an instructor for a skateboarding school and part of our curriculum is to teach the city laws."  My perfectly calm response just seemed to make her more angry and it was that moment that I actually understood WHY it’s important for all skaters to know their rights and what is expected of them.

The woman’s voice got much louder now and I could see pedestrians slowing down to see what was going on "But you are over fourteen aren’t you?!  You should be skating in the street.  That’s the law!"  She said this drammatically pointing to the horribly potholed 1st avenue.

Now I know this sounds one sided, but I should mention that this is my neighborhood and I don’t believe its neccessary to be hostile if you are well informed.

"I am over 14 (WAY over) and I believe you misunderstood the law.  14 year olds are not allowed to skate in the street or without protective equipment.  Now I don’t know if you’d tell your 15 year old grandson that he had to go skate in the street, but if you did you would putting him in danger and you’d be wrong.  It is illeagal to skate recklessly on the sidewalks, in a way that is an endangerment to pedestrians. "

"Oh." she was dumbfounded.  Man I’m glad I looked that up. 

So is the excerpt from from NYCSK8.com

New York City Law

In spring 1996, the city council passed Local Law 1996/043, making it illegal to skate recklessly, this being defined as skating in a fashion such as to threaten the health or possessions of another person. The fine is $50 to $100. (The law was signed by Mayor Giuliani in mid-June and went into effect in August 1996.) The law is on the books as:

New York City Administrative Code S 19-176.1

The reckless skating law was a compromise version of a proposal which originally included a ban on skating on the sidewalks by any person over age 14. Happily for skaters, that provision was removed. Nevertheless, city and state politicians have been known to advocate such a ban, including laws proposed in the state legislature. Skaters are thus enouraged to keep their heads screwed on and to skate no faster than a walking pace while on the sidewalk, lest there be an incident which would provide fuel for hostile politicians.

Preliminary signs seemed to indicate that the police would active enforce the reckless skating law, along with the various state skating laws. Among these signs was a spate of reports of skaters being stopped by police in early August 1996 (including the author of this skate guide) and given warnings that something that they had just done would in the near future warrant a ticket. However, since that date, the only known consistent effort by NYPD to enforce skating laws was during August 1998, when they patrolled Central Park on the weekends, looking for violations of the reckless skating law.

But this isn’t to say that the police will always ignore your skating infractions. There have been periodic police crackdowns on illegal cycling, usually at the precinct level and occasionally borough- or city-wide. All it takes is a city councilmember who’s been receiving complaints from his constituents, or just an irritated police precinct commander, to result in the police getting busy and giving offending skaters lots and lots of tickets. So skate legally as much as possible, be courteous to all pedestrians, and things should be cool.

On Sep. 16, 1996, the city council held a hearing for discussion of three proposed Local Laws (aka "Intros") which would affect cyclists and skaters. In particular, Int. 0844-1996 would have required that all inline skaters in the city to wear helmets. The proposed law was the immediate result of the death of a skater in Central Park the previous month after a collision with a cyclist. Although there were rumors that Int. 844 had passed, the city council website would seem to indicate that it did not.

A couple other Intros which were proposed to the city council but which also never passed were Int. 1042-1997, which would have made it illegal to be using earphones while skating or cycling, and Int. 0631-1999, which duplicated the state’s existing requirement for reflective clothing when skating after dark.

Uptown Skate School provides private and semiprivate skateboard at your own home or local park and we do our best to provide an affordable, safe and fun learning experience geared towards the students own ability! Private lessons are for anyone ages 5 and up, male or female.

If there is anything you’d like to learn, just ask.  Here’s a list of tricks that every skateboarder needs to know, based on Skateboarding Explained by pro skateboarder Dan MacFarlane.

Beginner Skateboarding Fundamentals

Street Basics

Ramp Basics

Advanced Tricks

Skate It, EA Games

Full Article

When you first step on the balance board, it will automatically detect your center of balance and set that as the neutral point in terms of steering and doing manuals. If you find it’s not working out for you, resetting is a simple matter of stepping off and getting right back on. When you’ve found a foot position that suits your needs, you can steer by leaning left or right. It’s not complicated, but at this stage, it’s a bit tough to balance between sharp and gradual turns. We’re told that Black Box is hard at work tuning this aspect of the controls and is attempting to find that ideal point of compromise such that the board delivers responsive turns but doesn’t react to every incidental shift in movement you might make whenever your legs get a little sore.

What’s going on?!? So you’ve seen the site change a dozen times and maybe got a little confused what was happening.   Here’s the scoop; we’ve had to change over to our summer program.  We’ve had a nice Spring filled with lots of discounted private lessons, but now we are in full swing with our summer program. 

Uptown Skate School is a fully insured skateboarding school, with the consent of the State Board of Education.  

We still offer Private Lessons, please contact us for more information. 

New Summer Skateboarding Clinics!

Group clinics offer your kids a chance to learn from Uptown Skate School Instructors as well as from other kids who live and skateboard in the neighborhood.  Meet friends, learn to skateboard, and have fun!  There are two new programs available this summer

Wild Blue Week Day Clinics

(More Information) Currently  Tuesdays and Thursdays and even on Rainy Days.  Begin at the Wild Blue headquarters at 401 East 76th Street and meet up other local skaters of all levels and Uptown Skate School instructors at one of the local parks. Spend some time learning new tricks, play S.K.A.T.E and other games with new friends. Register online.

Wild Blue has partnered with Uptown Skate School and NYPD - New York Pipe Dreams to create an amazing new skateboarding instruction program – the only one in Manhattan currently offering regularly scheduled lessons for kids.  Our combined forces allow us to give you the advantages of a safe and easy learning environment, a wide choice of child appropriate equipment and a sound educational system taught by great skateboarders who know how to work with kids.  This is an ideal way for beginner and intermediate level skateboarders to learn to ride, prepare for skate parks and learn about NYC’s rich skateboarding culture. 

Summer Sunday Skateboard and Swim (Swim is optional)

(More Information)  What better way to finish off a weekend skateboarding session then a nice jump in the cool pool? 

Pool is open from 11-3 & 4-7.   Contact us to register.  (life guard supervision, USS not responsible during swim, padlock and proper attire required)

What we teach

Beginner Skateboarding 101

• S –Standing & Stopping
• K – Kick Push Coast and kp-kpc (2 consecutive kicks)
• A – “Around” (Leaning to steer)
• T – Turning on a Pivot (45 Degrees)
• E – Exiting – Stopping and Dismounting the board (with style)

Intermediate Skateboarding Level II

Learn how to do kick turns, carve, grind, tail drops, axle drops, axle stalls, rock to fakie, weak ollies, tail taps, and other more unique tricks.

• S – Sliding
• K – Kick Turn
• A – Awesome Ollies
• T – Turning Slides & Manuals
• E – Everybody Wants to Grind

Advanced Skateboarding Level III

• Learn how to drop in
• Try out different ramps, verts, and street course
• Ollie up a curb
• Kick Flips
• Pop Shove it

NOTE: What follows is the foreword and introduction to the printed edition of the Public Skatepark Development Guide. The entire online publication is available on skatepark.org. For a free copy of the printed edition, (you only pay shipping and handling), please visit www.publicskateparkguide.org

Why Skateparks? By Tony Hawk

Why are skateparks important? The answer is obvious to those fortunate enough to have one in their community, while the unenlightened think that they are breeding grounds for trouble: a place where rebellious, outcast kids gather and conspire to commit crimes against traditional activities. This stereotype is not true, of course. And when a skatepark finally gets built in areas where the idea was first met with disapproval, the naysayers quickly realize what a positive impact it has on their communities.

I was lucky enough to live near one of the last remaining skateparks in the 1980s, and I understand the sense of identity these places can provide to kids who don’t feel like they “fit in” elsewhere. Del Mar Skate Ranch was my sanctuary in my formative years. You could find me there after school on any given day, and it’s where I met many of my lifelong friends. We were considered outcasts, but we shared a common passion. The Skate Ranch made us forget about not “fitting in” because we were right at home in the empty swimming pools that filled the skatepark.The privilege of having a place to skate was never lost on me, and I always wanted to help provide these facilities to those less fortunate.

I’ve ridden a lot of skateparks in my day, and seeing the explosive growth of public skateparks in recent years has been very exciting–but alarming at the same time. I’ve watched some cities pour hundreds of thousands of dollars into skatepark projects, only to be misled by inexperienced “low-bid” contractors. In short: a city designs a park to fulfill the demand of local skaters, then hires a company to build it; that company has no experience with skateparks, employs no skaters who understand the nuances of skatepark features, and yet completes the project on-time, under budget, and with self-congratulatory press. The poorly constructed skatepark opens to disappointed skaters—who are then labeled as ungrateful and spoiled.

The skaters may have spent several months petitioning, fundraising, and planning for the perfect park, but were forced to settle for something hardly skateable. It’s a vicious cycle that I wanted to help stop, so we formed the Tony Hawk Foundation.Our goal is to empower groups trying to get public skateparks in their areas, and to provide a resource to ensure that the parks are properly built. We focus on low-income communities where skateboarders do not yet have a public skatepark.

Our grants are not large enough to finance entire parks, but they often give groups the momentum they need to finish the project.My main job at the foundation’s grant-making meetings is approving and suggesting changes to skatepark designs. But my favorite thing is seeing the parks themselves. I’ve had the privilege of attending a few grand openings, and the appreciation of the local skaters is overwhelming. It’s a blast to see the finished product, especially when they’ve taken my design comments into consideration. Even more gratifying is the sense of pride that the locals have when they finally get to ride the fruits of their labor.Most of our grant applicants cite that the hardest part of getting a skatepark going is knowing where to start. You are now holding the key to this process, thanks to the foresight of some dedicated skaters. It’s a lot to take in, but well worth the effort in the end.

Oh my god! I had no idea Halifax was this cool! I found this skate shop called PRO.  They gave me directions to the HALIFAX SKATEPARK - at the Commons. It’s a gigantic creatively designed free skatepark in the center of a gorgeous city.

Halifax Commons Skate Park Bio

The street set-up has a wide variety of rails, stairs and ledges. 

• The biggest bowl is about 10 feet, fast and fun to ride.
• Another bowl about 4 feet high with a spine, extensions and hips. 
• Crazy flat and down ledges, banks, gaps, stair sets, soo many transitions
• Lights

Right in the heart of Halifax in the park known as the "Halifax Commons", the skatepark is in the south Commons bordering Bell Rd. and Quinpool Rd.   The park was designed by Spectrum Skatepark Designs from Vancouver and the members of the local skateboarding community. Built by Dexter Construction,  the park was the dream child of the Halifax Skatepark Coalition, made up of skaters, bike guys and community members.

PRO Skateboards & Snowboards

Jason gave me a little bit of history about the Pro and some local skaters such as Nate Oliver and Kyle Mcdonald.  I was psyched to see the NYC based Shut merchandise and to find out that PRO was big supporter of East Coast companies.

Pro Skateboards & Snowboards

522 Blowers Street | Halifax, NS B3J 1J7

1.800.661.3276

ProGirl 5574 Blowers Street Halifax, Nova Scotia

1.902.405.3535

Just up the street from PRO is PROgirl.  Totally great skatewear without having to suffer boys sizes.  I really loved the selection and I bought some really cute gear made by American apparel and the girls that worked here were really chill.

• Download PDF Article 
• View USA Article

Skateboarders aren’t frowned on at Oak Elementary School in Albany, Ore. In fact, students there get credit for performing grabs, kickturns and ollies in class.

Oak is among hundreds of schools across the country that have adopted a skateboarding curriculum in their physical education classes.

Skate Pass, the Boulder, Colo., company that created the curriculum in 2006, says skateboarding is now being taught in schools in more than a dozen U.S. states, plus Germany and Canada.

Educators say it’s part of a "new PE" movement that recognizes that some kids aren’t natural athletes.

"When people first hear ‘elementary PE,’ the first thing that comes to mind is dodgeball. Then all the other stuff they didn’t like," says Jake Gerig, Oak Elementary’s PE teacher.

"We’re trying to focus on lifetime activities that are non-competitive and individualized so students can learn at their own pace," Gerig says.

Elementary schools are moving toward non-traditional activities, he says, such as rock climbing, unicycle riding, yoga and even Dance Dance Revolution, a music video game played on a dance pad.

"Only 10% of kids go on and play team sports," Gerig says. "What about the other 90% who are sitting at home playing video games because they’re not star basketball material?"

Former professional snowboarder Eric Klassen developed the Skate Pass program with Eva Mullen and Denver PE teacher and fitness expert Richard Cendali.

"I’ve been skateboarding all my life and had been in the industry of skateboarding," Klassen says. "Richard is the one who thought it would make a good curriculum."

That was three years ago. Klassen says the curriculum now is used in school districts in Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

Districts in Kansas and Minnesota have placed orders for the curriculum, Klassen says, and the com- pany is negotiating license agreements to bring Skate Pass to schools in Australia and Singapore.

Curriculum kits start at $3,000 for 20 sets of helmets, pads and skateboards with wheels that are specially designed to not scratch gym floors.

The Skate Pass curriculum requires that students use safety equipment — helmets, knee pads, elbow pads and wrist guards. (Parents have to sign a waiver for kids to participate.)

"I’ve been skateboarding for about a year and a half now, but I learned some new stuff," Oak Elementary fourth-grader Xander Turkins says. "They teach you a lot about safety and the right way to do things."

The program also comes with instructional DVDs to lead teachers through the curriculum. "The teacher does not need to know how to skateboard in order to facilitate the instruction," Klassen says.

Lessons start with the basics: First safety, then skateboarding etiquette, then how to stand on the board and ride. Eventually, the students move on to tricks.

"We learned how to do an ollie, a kickflip, and turning on your board and stuff," Oak Elementary fifth-grader Ashleigh Parish says.

An ollie is a trick where the skateboarder pops the skateboard into the air.

"Most of my class doesn’t want PE to end," Parish says.

Gerig sought community support to purchase the program. Several area businesses, as well as the local PTA, donated to the project, he says.

"The kids who weren’t the most athletically gifted were able to get on a board and push and ride. The next thing you know, they’re able to reach down and do grabs. That was well worth every penny we spent," Gerig says.

(Tracy Loew reports for the Statesman Journal in Salem, Ore.)