July 10, 2009
Free Youth Programs with Open Road of New York
July 2, 2009
July 1, 2009
The Pursuit of Happiness
The Pursuit of Happiness
One day Billy called and said Here's an idea. Maybe next week when school's out, spring break, we skate in front of the White House. I said Yes. Because I always say Yes no matter what the question is then I sort it out later. It's why I'm careful who my friends are. Do you want to do it legally, with a permit? Yes, I have to, Billy said. I can't get arrested.
So I start finding out what it takes. First I need to figure out what DC is. I know it's a district, but if it's not a state, does the city have a city government? Who handles permits? I know that sounds stupid, but I didn't know. So I call the National Parks Service. Yes, you would talk to us about permits for demonstrations or sports events in Lafayette Park in front of the White House. But you can't skateboard there. It's grass.
What about the sidewalk? You can't get a permit for the sidewalk. But anyway you can't skateboard on the sidewalks on DC. You can't skateboard anywhere unless it's permitted. Like a skatepark.
What about a demonstration in the park, and we skateboard in the street? The street would be the district. The district you mean like the District of Columbia district? Yes. Do you know who I would ask there? DOT.
But, back to the park, could we have a permit for a demonstration about skateboarding in the park? Yes. And could we build stages, and could we skate on those stages? I don't know. That's a good question. Let me give you to my supervisor. Good luck.
The supervisor is interested. She wants drawings of a skateable stage. How many people would we expect? A thousand come to our events in NYC.
(to be continued)
June 23, 2009
Team Pain Skate Art at Manhattan Bridge
click the red piece on the upper right to see Jefferson Pang's album
June 22, 2009
June 19, 2009
tony hawk in the white house/open road outside the white house advocating for the legalization of skateboarding in DC. live twitter updates @skateable
obama with tony hawk and other founding fathers. tony in the center with skate shoes, black suit. Pictures from twitter @tonyhawk
We've been building parks for 20yrs and we've never seen anything like this. Right now kids want to skateboard, and they are willing to work for it, so they've started to convert our playgrounds into skate spots. These spots are skateable parks, not segregated skate parks, with community gardens, art, music, and youth culture, open to all.
tony hawk getting ready to meet with president barack obama
Come to some of these spots and volunteer, write to us about your advocacy projects, upload advocacy videos to youtube and send us links to your youth service projects. Participatory projects with youth leadership are the wave of the future, please send us yours. openroadpark@gmail.com
Photo courtesy Tony Hawk Foundation
tony hawk with open road and manhattan bridge skateboarders. SteveR@5boro set this up with Tony, thanks Steve and 5boro!
June 18, 2009
June 12, 2009
June 11, 2009
May 2, 2009
moveable environments, green playgrounds, natural play
natural playground, preschool play, playground design information in the slideshows to the right or this link
At Open Road, kids design alongside architects, artists, biologists, and professional athletes. Green areas are integrated with active sports, skate ramps with slides and art. Ponds, sand and dirt are playable as well as respected living systems. Kids play with teenagers and adults. Instead of fences and signs, suggestive design informs you. This is where the fast ball playing and skateboarding spots are. This is where the leafy green areas are where you can watch birds.
At Open Road Park, kids love to play in water, so our water systems are integrated into the drainage of the playground, and ponds are connected with underground cement holding tanks. These lead to deep ponds that fill & run dry. Kids play in the ponds, which change as the
water level changes. And through participatory design the ponds and streams change direction as kids design new channels, waterfalls, and retention basins.
April 21, 2009
Billy Rohan, NYC Parks Commissioner Benepe, Paula & June
Welcome to Open Road Park TM and Neighbors of Open Road Park TM
April 18, 2009
April 17, 2009
Manhattan Bridge LES survey results.
Overwhelming interest in skate art, concrete, variety, and a simple skate spot design. Billy Rohan and Steve Rodriguez of 5boro custom designed a layout with Team Pain. Thanks for answering the survey. We got 1500 hits on the survey on official new york. Tim Payne of Team Pain will be up in NYC to custom install.
April 15, 2009
Billy Rohan's "playground in a box"
Playground in a Box
5 people, a shipping container, a set of tools, & moveable equipment.
click the photo to see a movie with Open Road's playground in a box design. At the end of the day Billy Rohan puts away a moveable skatepark (along with the skateboards & helmets we lend out free) inside a 20' shipping container.
Click here for Open Road Skateboarding Phys Ed program.
we're custom designing this concept for another NYC location this summer, with multi-use skateable ramps + slides, benches, and a stage (above). Click for skateboard phys ed program.
April 13, 2009
Street Games & King of Spring in Harlem Sat April 18. Click image for info. Apply to volunteer at event openroadpark@gmail.com
April 5, 2009
April 4, 2009
open road. who we are. what we do.
above: charles ahlem dito marcos nikios karel olu paula (founder)
below: anthony (music)
we create programs with youth based on what they want to do. Right now we do participatory planning, public art, skateable green playground design, music, art, food waste composting, youth led research, mapping, advocacy, activism.
April 3, 2009
alejandro polanco, wilkins vidal, diamond rodriguez, david velez, corey pena: Open Road playground mural crew youth leaders.
April 1, 2009
March 27, 2009
March 9, 2009
skateable art
skateable art designed by DOT (above)
skateable art at open road park designed by billy rohan
skateable art in ikea red hook photo billy rohan
Skateable art in paris photo billy rohan
Skateable art in paris photo billy rohan
March 1, 2009
manhattan bridge skatepark
With design and construction managed by Open Road, this park is being created by skaters. Get involved. This is the first NYC project funded by the Tony Hawk Foundation. Construction to begin Spring 2009.Summary of survey results: Most important thing to people is flow and the bad surface. People overall prefer cement obstacles, with and without steel edging. People want a variety of obstacles, plaza style, mix of street and transition, pool coping. Many people brought up need for building up speed, quarter pipes, banks.
check this link for pictures of skateboarders in the park drawing designs, answering the survey, conducting interviews, measuring the site, and drawing their skatepath to Manhattan Bridge Skatepark
February 18, 2009
skate/music fri feb 20, 12-6
February 17, 2009
February 1, 2009
Olu and Ahlem's design team: Manhattan Bridge Skate Park & Allen/Pike Street
Olu and Ahlem's team
See this link for their final presentation of their designs to Leroy Street Architects, the Parks Department, New Design High School staff and students, Hester Street, and Open Road.
And see this link for Ahlem's, Olu's and the rest of the team's drawings and writing in their proposal for the Allen Street/Pike Street Malls & Manhattan Bridge Skatepark
Moveable Marble Ledges: moveable with a forklift. FAQ: yes that is Billy Rohan on the forklift.
If skateboarders want to use these as marble skateable ledges they can be professionally cut and placed within an overall design within the Manhattan Bridge Skatepark. They can be joined together by a professional stone mason so they can be long ledges.
January 28, 2009
January 25, 2009
Open Road Skateboarding PhysEd Standards
Students understand and demonstrate movement concepts and principles in a variety of movement forms: Skateboarding requires self awareness, balance and physical control. Students learn to walk, push, glide, skate forward and backward, hop and jump (ollie), all of which demonstrate different movement concepts and principles. Momentum, inertia, friction, slope, incline and other concepts are learned naturally while skateboarding, in a fun, experiential and challenging atmosphere.
Students use interpersonal communication skills that respect differences and demonstrate responsible and social behavior: In Open Road skateboarding physical education classes students depend upon one another, learn from each other, work on skills in a group and work independently. Students learn to respect one another's physical capabilities and differences. Skateboarding as a group requires students to demonstrate responsible and social behavior by respecting one another's physical space, learning not to skateboard into one another, enjoying the achievements of others, and learning to assist one another in mastering the skills. In skateboarding culture when a skateboarder falls in public others show respect. Students in the class quickly adopt this standard.
Students exhibit a physically active way of life and understand that physical activity provides opportunities for enjoyment, challenge, self expression, stress reduction and employment: By participating in Open Road skateboarding classes and being encouraged to skateboard on their own after school, and at citywide skateboarding events with their families, students participate in a physically active way of life. Skateboarding is naturally enjoyable and fun for children. Learning the sport is challenging, and by increasing the skills learned, the skater is continually challenged to learn more. Skating encourages self-expression by teaching the students at their own pace and allowing them to create their own choreography. The physical and mental focus required to skate well, along with the sensation of freedom felt gliding, reduces stress. The career and employment opportunities provided by skating are evident from the sponsorship relationships associated with skateboarding events, and through exposure of students to skating instructors – professionals who earn a living by skating and teaching the sport.
Students demonstrate competency in physical skills with proficiency in several: Skateboarding requires competency in a variety of physical skills. At the conclusion of the school year, the students are able to demonstrate competency in numerous physical skills on the skateboard, including standing, pushing, gliding, skating forward and backward, balancing on one foot, hopping, jumping, turning forward and backward, and navigating safely through the playground.
Students demonstrate safe and responsible personal and social behavior in physical activity settings: In Open Road skateboarding classes, students learn and are able to demonstrate safe behavior while using a skateboard. This includes the proper way to wear and care for the equipment, the safe way to fall and get up, and how to distinguish between safe and unsafe skateboarding behavior. All of the skills learned will include the proper and safe way to execute each maneuver, with discussion of the possible consequences of not executing the maneuvers safely. Students learn safe ways to assist someone who has fallen, to avoid bumping into other skateboarders, and to respectfully alert other skaters who may not be aware of their proximity.
January 1, 2009
December 29, 2008
open road food waste compost bins. park slope food coop composts food waste in the hot box
John Decker managing the Open Road Hot Box set up at the Garden of Union, Brooklyn. The Hot Box system at this garden composts food waste from the Park Slope Food Coop, which has over 8,000 members.
ambient temp is 48 degrees, compost temp is 140.
here is a report by cornell university on food waste composting in NYC, featuring the open road hot box. the report is a pdf so you need the free adobe reader. you can download it free here.
December 6, 2008
November 18, 2008
Thomas Greene Park in Brooklyn
Open Road built moveable skate obstacles & donated them. They were up for a couple of weeks & hundreds of kids came. This along with listening sessions by the Parks Department where the entire room asked for a skateable park here is part of a powerful movement for change. Photo Right: Ramp/skate armor: $300, Ledge/skate armor & steel: $1,000. Photo Left: Spine $2,000 in skate armor/steel
November 11, 2008
November 1, 2008
October 31, 2008
October 22, 2008
October 14, 2008
October 13, 2008
October 10, 2008
October 9, 2008
Urban Greenhouse Design: both of these have been up over 10yrs in NYC
Left: Open Road Park Greenhouse is 20' long by 16' wide and fits a regular class of about 30. 12th St. between 1st & A, NYC
Right: City As School Greenhouse (on the right as you enter the school) was designed and built in partership with CAS, Open Road, the Dept of Sanitation, and Coop Tech HS. It fits 30+ people.
Clarkson and Varick, Manhattan.
October 7, 2008
Tyriq Halloway, Dito Gil, Adam Zhu and the rest of the crew rebuilt a recycled ramp w/ Billy Rohan
In such a short time this volunteer crew has done so much for our park. For their earliest work see the link below. "In other Acapulco Gold news, over the winter AG and team skater Billy Rohan got together with Open Road of New York, The Gonz (Krooked), Vans, and Supreme to open a skatepark at 12th and A in Downtown NYC" http://hypebeast.com/2008/03/acapulco-gold-swirl-caps-12-and-skate-park/
September 10, 2008
Manhattan Bridge skatepark crew with Tony Hawk
The Tony Hawk Foundation is funding their first NYC Skatepark. 5boro's Steve Rodriguez made this happen and Open Road is managing design and construction with skaters from all over NYC.
Over 100 skaters have contributed ideas to participatory design sessions, shown up at Parks Department and Community Board meetings, and presented with Tony Hawk (above)
Billy Rohan's Phys Ed classes at Open Road Park
The kids build their skateboards and learn skateboarding
skills for Phys Ed credit at East Side Community High School.
check this link for pictures of the kids using their boards:
http://participatorydesign.blogspot.com/2008/04/skateboarding-physical-education.html
July 31, 2008
July 8, 2008
Preschool Playground Design
Natural light reflected on low-VOC paint. VOC's
(Volatile Organic Compounds) in commercial paint
can be triggers for asthma and allergies. We designed
this preschool with moveable play pieces, recycled
stone floors and mats. Children can move everything.
The water based reflective paints in the murals bounce
sunlight into the well ventilated room. These pictures
are taken with natural light from two small windows.
June 18, 2008
NDHS students build ramps w/ Open Road
and Frosty with New Design High School students
the ramps were taken apart, moved, and
custom rebuilt for the roof in one day. see
photos of the finished ramps below
June 15, 2008
June 14, 2008
June 13, 2008
Design & Build: Rooftop Skatepark
...
We built recycled moveable skate ramps,
made from the same ramps we used for the
King of Spring event at Open Road Park.
The rooftop is shaped like an E
The E runs north/south a whole city block. At first we thought we'd use the
center part of the E (above left). This location was
rejected in talks with Scott, the principal (above right).
There would be too much noise in offfice rooms
used after school under this section of the roof
This section of the roof, to the north,
is better. Enough room to skate,
no offices below. So we moved in the
skate ramps, in pieces, and rebuilt them
with New Design student volunteers.
June 12, 2008
Open Road Rooftop Skatepark 350 Grand
http://www.runmygame.com/ Rooftop Rampage June 14
photo Jay Maldonado
Mark Gonzales and Jill Herman. Photo Billy Rohan.
Jill Herman is the legendary founder of East Side
Community High School, and consultant to principals
Scott Conti, Paul Thompson, Mark Federman. Mark Gonzales
is the legendary mentor, skater, supporter of skate programs
and artist. Open Road is fortunate to have both on the team.
June 11, 2008
New Design HS Summer 08 Public Space
Potential projects to create this summer:
A. participatory design proposals for parks (photos/text/models)
B. objects that could be in parks (mural/plants/sewn/paper/photos/soil)
(temporary/permanent)
June 8, 2008
Open Road at Krush Groove
click to enlarge. text your names if you want id
ramp painting by S. Maldonado.
Open Road Rooftop Skatepark
May 22, 2008
May 21, 2008
May 20, 2008
Rooftop Films with Open Road
Open Road Park. Photo by Jun.
...and now, another season of Rooftop Films at
Open Road project sites in June 2008.
http://www.rooftopfilms.com/08-summerseries.html
for Open Road Rooftop shows, Grand & Essex, Manhattan.
May 19, 2008
May 18, 2008
May 12, 2008
Loose Parts: grass, ramp slides, climbers
May 11, 2008
Allen Street
ThinkTank/New Design www.newdesignhigh.com
....
In the design above, left, skate ramps
coexist with gardens, benches, & trees.
In the design above, right, X's represent
basketball courts & skateboard ramps and
purple lines mean "remove street".
For more on Hester Street Collaborative
see http://www.hesterstreet.org/
...
Mother's Day
Nando and Johnny hosted a mothers' day BBQ
at Open Road Park. Tito donated moveable
monkey bars from a preschool that discarded them.
May 4, 2008
May 1, 2008
April 30, 2008
hot box food waste composting
open road designed & patented the hot box, a food waste compost bin. we use the hot box to make compost to grow fresh produce for public school cafeterias, fruit trees, and landscaping around our skateable parks. see this link for a guide to building a hot box so you can produce your own rich compost. see this link for pictures of the hot box and the park slope food coop members.
April 28, 2008
April 2008 interview NYRAG
In an interview by the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers, Barbara Greenberg of the Levitt Foundation discusses assessing youth development program outcomes with Paula Hewitt Amram of Open Road, a Levitt grantee
NYRAG: Paula, can you give me some background on Open Road, and tell me a little about the kind of outcomes you are hoping to achieve?
Paula Hewitt Amram: Open Road was founded in 1990, and is based in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, though we work citywide. When we first started, it was to take over a specific vacant lot that was being used for drug dealing. That established the way Open Road functions: working closely with families and staying involved long-term. In 1993, we took over a contaminated homeless encampment. It’s now called Open Road Park. The young people who started this project with us were then ages 11 and 13, and are now program directors. Our core mission is to develop these relationships and through them develop outdoor environmental projects that have tremendous public use. Open Road Park is now a one-acre public park with a basketball court, greenhouse, and a turtle pond. It also serves as the home-base for all our programs.
NYRAG: And Barbara, how is this a good fit for Levitt, and helping to further your mission?
Barbara Greenberg: The Levitt Foundation is a relatively small foundation, giving less than $1 million per year. Our focus is young people ages 6 to 18 in the five boroughs and on Long Island. We encourage children and youth to learn about their environment and improve and protect it in their own neighborhoods. We prefer to fund programs that are youth empowered, so kids identify and take action on issues that are important to them.
NYRAG: How do you set up your evaluation program to see if a particular grantee is meeting those goals?
BG: We obtain evidence that the young people have acquired knowledge, that they’ve improved or protected their environment, and that they’ve practiced leadership and citizenship skills. We strive to be accountable
and use each grant dollar wisely. However, we aren’t able to justify costly outside evaluations on every project. What we’ve done is build monitoring and evaluation into our whole grantmaking cycle. For instance, when we solicited a proposal from Open Road, we asked them to describe their goals and define the measures of success by which both of us could judge their achievements. Once a grant was approved, our letter of agreement restated these measures of success, and when they make their reports to the Levitt Foundation, they gauge their progress against these measures. Similarly, when we site visit we see how much of this has been achieved. In these ways, evaluation becomes an integral part of the entire grant cycle.
PHA: I can give you an example of one of our long-term projects that Levitt supports. It is called Prove It with Improvement, and we had very targeted goals because the young people had already chosen to work on specific environments. These were the same youth who had
been involved with the project before we wrote the proposal, and they’d already designed the project in a park in the Lower East Side. They wanted to reopen a locked gate, reopen a locked bathroom, and improve the environment where it had been poorly cared for. So that was one of the evaluations: asking whether they completed these very specific goals. We also said we’d be working with 20 young people and at least 30 adults from the general public. We had quantitative measures like these, plus qualitative measures like leadership development. We take attendance every day, and we know if the same people are coming on a regular basis, and if they were there in 2005, 2006, and 2007. We require that adult staff do extensive daily writing and keep journals. These journals are also part of our reports. In addition, many of our staff meet directly with the Levitt Foundation during site visits and are responsible for creating presentations.
BG: The Levitt Foundation is interested in whether we achieved the environmental impact we wanted. However, we also want to know whether the kids are practicing leadership skills and building their confidence. We expect many of these young people will become the future stewards of their urban environment, but we also anticipate these hands-on learning experiences will serve them well in whatever path they choose.
PHA: One of our evaluation methods is to do surveys of the surrounding neighborhoods. We found there’s been a change in people’s expectations during the 15 years we’ve been working in the Lower East Side. There is more of an expectation environmental projects are going to be more racially and culturally diverse. Not only is there an increase in the number of these programs, but there is also more demand for them. The city has a program where it grades parks, so this is another way for us to evaluate our work. Are the parks getting a better letter grade since we’ve been involved? Asking this question enables us to do external as well as internal evaluation.
Paula Hewitt Amram is the Founder/Executive Director of Open Road, which designs and creates free, public, youth-led projects through participatory design, including public gardens and parks, green roofs, mapping websites, public murals, and youth-led research. Since 1989, Ms. Amram has consulted on programs for the New York City Department of Education, the Department of Parks and Recreation, and environmental and youth organizations. Another NYRAG member that funds Open Road is The Hite Foundation. http://www.openroadny.org
Barbara R. Greenberg, MSW, is President of The Philanthropic Group, an organization that provides consulting and management services forfoundations. Greenberg facilitated a decision-making process to assist the Levitt Foundation board in reaching consensus on a grantmaking focus. She designed its grantmaking strategy, and has managed its grantmaking program for ten years. Ms. Greenberg has more than 25 years’ experience in the private, nonprofit, and public sectors, in diverse roles including Executive Director of a family foundation, Manager of a national corporate grantmaking program, and Executive Director of a countywide nonprofit counseling center. Her experience also includes serving as a board member with NYRAG, Grantmakers in Aging, the American Society on Aging, and the American Littoral Society.
bgreenberg@philanthropicgroup.com
April 23, 2008
April 7, 2008
Afterschool design
1. Reflect light into the room with mirrors and light colored murals. Allow free air flow through the room. Grow live plants, Keep washable surfaces clean. Avoid fabrics and rugs (allergy and asthma triggers)
2. Use moveable mats, shelves, play areas.
3. Color code areas for free play, art, reading, math, plants, kitchen, dress up. Paint or decorate each area with a color theme. Create a map of the room with these colors.
4. Have a familiar schedule that the room fits. Circle, snack, free play, rest time, outdoor play are all familiar and comforting. Create a "circle" area with shelves stocked with calendars, reading and math games, musical instruments, large story books.
Make a list of things you need and break them into categories:
1. Things you can buy used from thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales and Goodwill. These include hard (cleanable) toys like blocks, trucks, legos, kitchen play areas, washable rubber mats, plastic and rubber numbers and letters, and hard plastic or rubber animals. Wash everything with soap and hot water even if it seems clean to you.
2. Things people will donate. Make a list of things you need and post it everywhere. For example: art supplies (scrap paper, washed out tin cans for holding paint and brushes, rubber bands, string, fabric), books (specify ages).
3. Things you should buy new. a) Indoor moveable play areas. Soft vinyl covered foam works well for all ages. It can double as a play area and a rest and reading area. These should be new (for safety and cleanliness). b) educational supplies, like calendars, flash cards, puzzles. Montessori materials are often good, and check out science supply houses. Here is a comparison shopping web site. Just search for "play mats" or "educational supplies" http://www.nextag.com/
February 3, 2008
survey results
In the box, write details about the specific kind of obstacle you want. If you don't like one of the choices of materials tell us that or just don't answer it.
Each person's set of answers has a line above and below it. Some people didn't answer all questions. That means they didn't like the material (or the question).
______________________________________________________________
a. cement obstacles with steel edging (custom designed) - up ledge
b. cement obstacles with no steel edging (custom designed) - wave, snakerun
c. stone obstacles (marble/granite, etc) - ledges, varied height, minimum 8-10 feet long
d. steel obstacles - none
e. wood obstacles with ramp armor/skate lite type of covering - pyramid
f. prefab obstacles purchased from an equipment catalogue - none
________________________________________________________________
b. cement obstacles with no steel edging (custom designed) - pole jam
________________________________________________________________
| a. cement obstacles with steel edging (custom designed) - Two 15 inch high 8' by 5' manual pads. placed 25 feet after each other. Another one of same specs, but curves. | |||
| b. cement obstacles with no steel edging (custom designed) - Replica of the Pier 7 manual pads from San Francisco. | |||
| c. stone obstacles (marble/granite, etc) - one laying horizontally, another laying on top bisecting then 8 feet afterwards , 2 stacked up going longways. That way you can use the bisecting rock as a launch to the stacked granite blocks. | |||
| d. steel obstacles - an up-ledge of construction I-beams. Make it as an upledge, then on the sides make banks coming down the sides of them. | |||
| e. wood obstacles with ramp armor/skate lite type of covering - DEFINITELY NOT | |||
| f. prefab obstacles purchased from an equipment catalogue - DEFINITELY NOT _________________________________________________________________
a. cement obstacles with steel edging (custom designed) - a downrail with small hubbas on the sides for frontside and backside b. cement obstacles with no steel edging (custom designed) - cement hip , also on side of hip smal 2flat 2 stair set on other side of funbox hip d. steel obstacles - steel flat bar a long one round and square one
|
c. stone obstacles (marble/granite, etc) - yes
a. cement obstacles with steel edging (custom designed) - Cement bowls with pool coping - use Grindline parks as a model.
| a. cement obstacles with steel edging (custom designed) - up and down box similar to the one at the banks made from anything but wood |
| b. cement obstacles with no steel edging (custom designed) - manny pad |
| c. stone obstacles (marble/granite, etc) - better ledge than the dusty ones already there |
| d. steel obstacles - a straight unkinked flatbar |
| e. wood obstacles with ramp armor/skate lite type of covering - quarterpipe |
a. cement obstacles with steel edging (custom designed) - An up and down ramp similar to the one at the brooklyn banks but made from anything but wood
b. cement obstacles with no steel edging (custom designed) - Kicker with a ledge
| a. cement obstacles with steel edging (custom designed) - a pool or bowl |
| d. steel obstacles - a pole jam |
| e. wood obstacles with ramp armor/skate lite type of covering - mini half pipe |
| f. prefab obstacles purchased from an equipment catalogue - rust in peace |
| a. cement obstacles with steel edging (custom designed) - This is the best way to go!! And transitions in the form of a bowl. |
| b. cement obstacles with no steel edging (custom designed) - fun, but they chip out and get unusable after little use |
| c. stone obstacles (marble/granite, etc) - Marble and granite are very good durable material and fun to skate... mimic nearby spots that are a bust |
| f. prefab obstacles purchased from an equipment catalogue - never ever use pre-fab... worse than not even having a park |
| a. cement obstacles with steel edging (custom designed) - Anything, as long as it has some flow. How about a snakerun that ends in a bowl, with a couple hips, round and angular (see Groton CT or any Sloppy Sam Park for examples of building concrete up from asphalt) | |||
| b. cement obstacles with no steel edging (custom designed) - Same as above. Consider creating two areas. One smaller street area with a variety of ledges, boxes and rails. And another section that is oriented more for experienced transition skaters with a variety of obstacles (see Grindline and Dreamland skateparks for inspiration and ideas) | |||
| c. stone obstacles (marble/granite, etc) - sure, maybe a couple of walls with stone or granite coping. Or a couple of banks heading up to some boulders (see Volcom Skatepark in Mammoth, CA for an example of that) | |||
| d. steel obstacles - no | |||
| e. wood obstacles with ramp armor/skate lite type of covering - no | |||
| f. prefab obstacles purchased from an equipment catalogue - NO! If you want to make something unique and worth the effort, something that has any kind of impact on the skateboarding community in NYC and beyond, dump the idea of prefab obstacles. Never. It is a waste. This is New York. Lets have a skatepark that reflects the creativity and diversity of this city. Something truly unique! Look at some of the 'Do it yourself' parks around the nation, Burnside in Portland, FDR in Philadelphia. Be inspired!
|
a. cement obstacles with steel edging (custom designed) - bowls with pool coping or metal coping full pipes cradles spine mini ramp
b. cement obstacles with no steel edging (custom designed) - Enclosed pool with shallow end steps, 9' deep, 5' shallow, cast in place or pool coping. This will attract adult skaters!
| a. cement obstacles with steel edging (custom designed) - concrete round wall that can be built up over time | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| c. stone obstacles (marble/granite, etc) - 2 concrete ledges with marble or granite slabs on top (cost efficient) spaced out to hit back to back | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| d. steel obstacles - A mounted flat bar at least 14 inches tall, round preferred. also a mounted pole jam | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| f. prefab obstacles purchased from an equipment catalogue - hell no
|
