NEW YORK
(From page 65) Island, building ramps
with stolen wood using tree saws,
bent nails and axes (no cash used),
but soon became known for building
the best ramps. Chris now lives with
his girlfriend Laura, skates, makes art
for NYC's best paid artists, and paints
for himself. He has a woodshop in
Brooklyn where many ramps have
been built. Chances are, you'll find
Chris skating Josh's bowl ramp in the
Hampton Bays.
"My first pool experience came
with Joe Fuchs, who made you go to
church with him first and sit through
the sermon (he was a born again.
Christian). We'd go Amen, Amen all
the way to his blue Nova, then we'd
skate Amery's pool on sleepy Sun-
day afternoons. Then there was a
major wood discovery at the local
bridge under construction. We used
my friend's clam boat late at night to
get hundreds of 2x4"s for the ramp.
We dressed in black to evade the
sleeping workers on the barges near-
by. That's how we built the Decay
ramp-two crossing halfpipes 16"
wide by 10' high and 12" wide by 8'
high-which was perfect until it was
knocked senseless by a hedge-
hurdling car one sad night.
"In the summer of '76 I built my
own custom boards-didn't every-
one?-which were the first (even
before Sims) to have scooped out
concave nose and tail. I called them
Decay Skates because the boards
only lasted a couple weeks due to the
technique of using a grinder to make
the solid wood decks concave."
Jaime Affoumado (aka Puppet-
head): Pup started skating in 1975 on
hills in front of his house in the Bronx.
In '77 he went to California on a child-
acting trip and got his first taste of
transitioned concrete skateparks. By
78 he was back in NYC acting and
skating downtown, soon to hook up
with the upper west side Zoo Yorkers
and Westbeth skaters to session the
outlaw ramps, the Riverdale
deathbowl and the ramp on Kapod
Street. In the early '80s he stopped
riding vertical for more than three
years until Papo took him to Albany
skatepark, the Nyack ramp, the Blue
ramp and Groholski's. Pup has been
ripping ramps in New York and sur-
rounding states ever since. He had a
health food restaurant that stayed
open for awhile and lately he has con-
centrated on his drumming. Pup has
a beautiful girlfriend he loves very
much named Tami and is playing a
lot of jazz and funk downtown and in
the Village with Kenji, Scott and Ari.
He opened in Las Vegas last winter
as part of Bill Cosby's band.
"New kids: Competition and
money are always nice with the right
mind, but happiness is the overall
reason why I'm still rolling around
looking almost content. Years ago, at
Cherry Hill, when someone couldn't
do tricks yet, we'd only push them
positively, never putting them down
(unless they were assholes any
106
ways). These days many of the kids
skating are too concerned with spon-
sorship and who is better. They need
a healthier approach to the act or art
of skating. I say, be humble, have fun,
skate with a good attitude, eat right
and later to all that sugar!!!
"I remember in 1978 at the 59th St
and Central Park "Coliseum" seeing
and skating in the first ramp demo
in NYC. Philadelphia Skatepark
brought a no-flat, no platform fiber-
glass halfpipe along with D.T.S.
skaters Paul Constatineau and Bob
Biniak, Jami Godfrey and Mike
Jezslowski, Jamie Mosberg and
Chris Seymour from Long Island,
and Papo, Kessler, myself, Makie,
Kep, and Raoul Ollman from NYC.
We skated for over two hours and
then threw out stickers. It was a
memorable early demo."
Eric Haze: One of the first generation
of Manhattan graffiti artists and
skaters, Haze skated the outlaw
ramps by day and bombed the train
yards by night. Influenced by
Dogtown's underground '70s style,
his upper west side (pre-yuppification)
crew created "Zoo York Skates,"
which soon became the only inner-
city skate graphics and crew. These
days Haze runs a design studio in
Soho, doing album covers for the likes
of Tone-Loc, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys,
Young MC, as well as graphics for
MTV, and his own t-shirts and stickers
"Unlike California, we had no
skateparks or pools in the city, and
we didn't have the money or
backyards required for safe ramps.
The makeshift ramps that we did
build were usually torn down in a few
weeks by the city's sanitation depart-
ment or by irate neighbors. There
were three good outlaw ramps: 95th
and Riverside, the Armory on 91st
and Madison, and the Westbeth
ramp. There were a few pools up in
the Bronx, like the Deathbowl. Cen-
tral Park was the center of everything
then; it had girls and hills. We'd take
train rides to the first skateparks out
in Long Island and Staten Island and
skate hard until late at night.
"As time passed, I became more
involved in graffiti and artwork. I con-
tinued doing board graphics but
skated less and less over the years.
To be honest, nowadays I get off more
watching Christian on any backyard
ramp or pool than skating myself."
Rodney Smith: 20, part owner and
founder of Shut Skates, Rodney
began skating in New Jersey in the
spring of 1975. He learned from big
raging Dave Saddler His skating roots
le in the '77 to '81 skatepark days of
hard concrete dues. Rodney skates
hard and fast on anything, but prefers
banks, pools, steel curbs and ditches
with his bros and teammates.
"I began street skating the city in
uptown and midtown with my friend
Steve Willis, who lived both in New
Jersey near me and in the city. I met
the city skaters like Pepe Torres, lan
Frohm, Big Al and Afro Al (from
Brooklyn), skating the bridge banks.
When sessions at Tom Groholski's
ramp still went down I met Harry
Jumonji-way stylish. I met Bruno
Musso at the last amateur Surf-Ohio
contest in 1986-since then we've
been Shut. City skating wasn't that
big with me until we hit the Blue pool
in upper Harlem and the Harlem
banks where hardcore terrain is there
for the test. Nowadays there are a lot
of dedicated NYC skaters such as Big
Jim Moore, Aly Moore, Joe Humeres
and the Skate NYC Posse, Qulon,
Obed, Bobo, Wiley, Cosmo, Petey,
Kenny Usomonont, Jeff Pang, and
the Brooklyn Posse."
Bruno Musso: 19 years old, part
owner and founder of Shut Skates
Bruno started skating in the late 70s
but got serious in the early 80s, street
and bank skating and working at
Dream Wheels (a now defunct shop).
Now Bruno skates to the Little Italy
office of Shut Skates, and skates
whenever he can find time.
"I started street skating because
I live in New York City and it soon
became evident there wasn't any-
thing else to do. If there were waves.
in the Hudson or East Rivers, we
would have grown-up surfing too. We
would search and find all these
banks in mid-town Manhattan that
are presently all a bust. We'd skate
late into the night at the Brooklyn
Banks, and there were sessions go-
ing on at Al's Redhook ramp
(9'h x12'w) in Redhook Brooklyn.
That got burnt down when the bums
who slept under the platforms lit
careless fires to keep warm in the fall
of '86. Every winter it became more
popular to quit skating, move, go to
school, lose it on crack or heroin and
go to jail, or start snowboarding.
Streetskating in NYC during the dead
cold winter is the harshest. In '86 1
had an accident at the Bleecker
Benches channel which resulted in
ripped cartilidge and surgery on my
left knee. The doctor said I should
never skate again, hence it was
heavy decision time. Before a
summer '87 road trip to an Ocean
City contest, Alyasha Moore, Rodney
Smith and myself ordered some
blanks and created Shut Skates-
just shaping custom boards for
ourselves and our team. Shut was a
reaction to all the B.S. gossip, as in
the line "Shut up and skate." Our
emphasis was on street function. I
put an overall priority on the team
and their feedback on our boards,
which has helped our shapes to
progress. I try to keep a progressive
scene with some opportunity for the
next kid to skate hard for us on the
street level. There is a future for
skating in NYC. Zoo York rules!
Joe Humeres: 1988 amateur
freestyle champion, Joe has worked
hard at his craft for the past five years
in NYC parks. Joe is part owner of
"Skate NYC," the best skate store in
the city. He's a rookie pro who will
deliver blows to the old pros soon...
"I don't think that skating in NYC
can compare to any other city. Not
to say that it's better or worse, but
New York is so intense. By intense
I mean that it thrives on every type
of lifestyle. It's as creative as it is ag-
gressive. After art school I started
skating at Washington Square Park
and got into the sport again, in a hard
way. The scene was halted due to the
busts. The cops would try to sweep
us under the carpet all the time. We
didn't seem to fit the image they
wanted for the park...whatever. All
I know is that the drug dealers had
it easier. Some dropped out at this
point and got into the club-lag b.s.
The true skaters are still here, we
skate every day and don't follow the
trends that plague us. There is a new
generation of skaters coming out
now, and they rip.
"Presently I have taken a job with
the NYC Parks Dept. and we're
organizing more contests and desig
nated skater-only areas, plus an NYC
Parks and Rec. rated team. It's about
time the city began to support and
work with skateboarders. There are
no big ramps in the city yet, but
there's an endless maze of streets
with steel curbs and some clean
spots for freestylers."
Rob Rodrigues: 25, born in Engle-
wood, NJ, Rob has lived in NYC since
1981. He has ridden for seven years
total and now concentrates primarily
on progressive, streetskate-influenced
freestyle. He gave up Pratt Institute
art school to play punk and ska music
for his band "The Press."
"I stopped skating for several
years because I thought I was a
grown-up and should act like one all
the time. I met Joe Humeres and
realized how much fun and how
many friends I had given up. Right
away I started competing again and
haven't stopped. As a freestyler in
NYC, I spend a lot of time with street
skaters, which helps me to skate
faster rolling lines. I always shoot for
a well-rounded style and respect
skaters who do a wide variety of
tricks, like Henri Condotti.
Chris Reilly: 15 years old, one of the
new school NYC top amateurs from
Staten Island. Chris began skating
five years ago in the parks and hills
near his home with his partner Kevin
and his older brother Tom. He got se-
cond place in his first contest. He then
went on to three first places, beating
the best street, bank and jump ramp
riders at Brooklyn Bridge's ESA con-
tests. His ollie grabs are so high and
so far it usually makes one want to
antidigest one's biscuits.
"Living here is a privilege; every-
thing is here skatewise (and other.
wise too). In Staten Island there are
great banks at Tysen's Park, Scott's
metal ramp, a few seasonal pools,
and the rooftop bowls. After 1
graduate from high school in two
years, I plan to attend college and
skate. That's then, I'll be skating
every day no matter what now. I'm
inspired by fast riders with power
moves, like Eric Dressen, Vallely.
Christian Hosoi and my brother.
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