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Brooklyn Banks

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Coordinates: 40°42′36″N 74°00′05″W / 40.70995°N 74.00144°W / 40.70995; -74.00144
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The lower banks as seen in 2009

Brooklyn Banks is the unofficial name for the area under the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. The banks are a New York City skate spot, popular among skateboarders and BMXers for the unique brick banked surfaces that give the spot its name, and other skateable features such as benches, pillars, ledges, stairs, and handrails.[1][2]

The banks have been referred to as “New York City’s most famous skateboarding spot” and “the Mecca of New York skateboarding” by the New York Times.[3]

The skateboarding community has rallied to save the banks from destruction on multiple occasions.[1][4]

Architectural history

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Originally an area used for the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, the banks abut large vaults under the bridge’s anchorage that had been used as wine cellars in the 19th century[5] and a Cold War era bunker to store emergency survival supplies in the case of a nuclear attack.[6]

After the removal of trolley lines from the bridge in the 1950,[7] land was cleared for additional exit ramps for cars to be constructed on the Manhattan end. In 1972, the space under the ramp supports was reclaimed as part of the larger 1 Police Plaza development project. Parks Commissioner Henry Stern independently declared the area a park by installing a wooden sign that read “Red Brick Park.”[3][8]

The distinctive wavelike banked surfaces were designed by landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg,[9][10] who later said of his design “it was not with the intent of creating a recreational area… but it’s interesting that it became that. What is fascinating to me is how we interpret our environment, how we use our imagination to do things, involve ourselves in activities that were not intended.”[11]

Skateboarding

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A skateboarder at the banks in 2009

From the mid-1980s onward, significantly before any skateparks were built in New York City, the Brooklyn Banks provided one of the only banked skateable areas in the city.[12][13][14] The banks remained a major meet up spot for Downtown skateboarders for the next two decades.[4][11]

In 2001, the September 11 attacks on the nearby World Trade Center caused access to the banks to be temporarily shut down,[15] although skaters were allowed to return almost immediately, even when the area remained closed to others.[16] The city soon started using the area for weekday parking, limiting the usable hours for skateboarding.[2]

New York City began renovations on the spot in 2004, destroying the little banks in the process, and planning to turn the area into a green park. Skateboarder and community organizer Steve Rodriguez successfully organized skateboarders to lobby the New York City to save the larger banks for skateboarding in 2005. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation agreed on a redesign for the area would result in what Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe deemed a "skateboard-friendly park.”[4][8][10]

Five years later, in 2010, New York City turned the space into storage for a major restoration and repair project for the bridge. This effectively closed the area skateboarders had used for over twenty years.[1][8][17] In 2016, a petition to re-open the banks was circulated with 21,718 signatures collected.[18]

In 2020, after the New York City Department of Transportation removed all the bricks from the flat ground area, the skateboard community feared the big banks themselves would be next.[19][20] Over the next three years, a new petition to reopen the banks to skateboarding gathered over 53,000 signatures.[3]

With the organizing and lobbying of Rodriguez once again, the park was partially reopened on May 24, 2023, the 140th anniversary of the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge, as part of a planned redesign that would specifically keep skateboarding in mind, rebuild the small banks, and reopen the big banks.[21][22]

  • The banks during their skatepark era in 2009
    The banks during their skatepark era in 2009
  • The lower banks in 2010
    The lower banks in 2010
  • The lower banks in 2010
    The lower banks in 2010
  • Part of the reopened upper banks in 2023
    Part of the reopened upper banks in 2023
  • The lower banks undergoing renovation in 2023
    The lower banks undergoing renovation in 2023

Video game appearances

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Due to their fame, virtual versions of the Brooklyn Banks have appeared in several skateboarding video games including Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2,[23] Thrasher: Skate and Destroy,[24] Tony Hawk’s Underground,[25] and Session: Skate Sim.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Branch, John (May 13, 2010). "To Fix Bridge, Skateboard Mecca May Be Lost for Years". The New York Times. Retrieved May 16, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Tunney, Brian (November 3, 2009). "The end of the Brooklyn Banks?". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  3. ^ a b c Hu, Winnie (January 26, 2023). "The Mecca of New York Skateboarding, Back From the Dead?". The New York Times. US. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Porter, Justin (June 24, 2005). "Under a Bridge, and on Top of the World". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  5. ^ Jankowski, Nicole (January 30, 2017). "A Sip Of History: The Hidden Wine Cellars Under The Brooklyn Bridge". NPR. US. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  6. ^ Chan, Sewell (March 21, 2006). "Inside the Brooklyn Bridge, a Whiff of the Cold War". The New York Times. US. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  7. ^ "Last Trolley Crosses Brooklyn Span As Modernization of Bridge Begins". The New York Times. US. March 6, 1950. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  8. ^ a b c Wright, Elliott (May 24, 2023). "Back to the Banks". Monster Children. Monster Children. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  9. ^ Huxtable, Ada Louise (November 18, 1973). "How to Build a Civic Center". The New York Times. US. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  10. ^ a b Endo, Tetsuhiko (March 2, 2010). "Brooklyn Banks". Huck. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  11. ^ a b Nichols, Coan and Charnoski, Rick (directors) (May 8, 2008). Deathbowl to Downtown (motion picture) (Documentary motion picture). US. Event occurs at 41:32. ASIN B002SAV82E.
  12. ^ "Brooklyn Banks: A Retrospective". Thrasher Magazine. August 13, 2020. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  13. ^ "Skateboard Stories Ep 1 - The Brooklyn Banks (2018)". NYSkateboarding.com. January 26, 2018. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  14. ^ Smith, Jonathan (November 11, 2009). "Bye Bye Brooklyn Banks". Vice. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  15. ^ Tunney, Brian (September 9, 2011). "Edwin De La Rosa reflects on 9/11". ESPN. US. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  16. ^ Neely-Cohen, Maxwell (July 29, 2016). "How Philadelphia Destroyed The Greatest Skate Spot Ever Made". Buzzfeed News. US. Retrieved November 6, 2023. I got off of the subway only to find that the banks were behind the fences in that initial cordoned-off post-9/11 downtown zone
  17. ^ "The Brooklyn Banks Are (Not) Back: RB Umali Interview + New Footage". TransWorld SKATEboarding. April 7, 2017. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  18. ^ "Teen BMX Rider Petitions New York to Reopen The Brooklyn Banks". fatbmx.com. Retrieved February 14, 2020.
  19. ^ "UPDATE: It Looks Like the Brooklyn Banks May Be Done ⋆ SKATE NEWSWIRE". SKATE NEWSWIRE. May 10, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  20. ^ "Help Save The Brooklyn Banks". Transworld SKATEboarding. May 11, 2020. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  21. ^ Milton, Immanual John (May 25, 2023). "NYC Brings Back Iconic Brooklyn Banks Skate Park After 13 Years". Bloomberg. Retrieved June 10, 2023.
  22. ^ Castro, Alexis (May 5, 2023). "WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE OFFICIAL BROOKLYN BANKS COMEBACK". Jenkem. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
  23. ^ Neversoft (September 19, 2000). Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (PlayStation). Activision. Level/area: The Big Apple: New York City, New York.
  24. ^ Nowicki, Cole (September 26, 2023). Right, Down + Circle: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. US: ECW Press. p. 35. ISBN 1770417168.
  25. ^ Neversoft (October 27, 2003). Tony Hawk's Underground (PlayStation). Activision. Level/area: Manhattan.
  26. ^ Crea-ture Studios (September 22, 2022). Session: Skate Sim (PlayStation 5). Nacon. Level/area: Brooklyn Banks Station.
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40°42′36″N 74°00′05″W / 40.70995°N 74.00144°W / 40.70995; -74.00144

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