Visit Independence Hall (top), the Liberty
Bell bottom and the Afro-American
Museum (opposite page) for a crash coame
in American history
from Cherry Hill skatepark in New Jersey, one of
the biggest East Coast parks, which was only a
stone's throw away. Skaters like lamie Godfrey,
Chuck Treece, Mike Jeslowski, Zeke Zegar. Bruce
Momich and Steve Eye dominated. The music
scene was in gear with skate-rooted hardcore
bands like McRad and Autistic Behavior, as well
as a band called Scram, who gained attention
with a blend of ska and reggae.
Towards the mid-eighties, a skate shop called
Spike Skates organized Philadelphia's first street-
style contest, aptly dubbed "The Philly Freeze."
Spike's owners. Rich and Eileen, began sponsor-
ing regular contests and demos. The molding of a
skate scene was taking place Spike's became the
meeting ground for locals and out-of-towners
alike. There were invert circles, launch ramps, and
everything associated with the streetstyle revolu-
tion. By 1989, the shop closed its doors and, as
quickly as it started, the era came to an end.
Today Philadelphia has several tough, dedi-
cated rippers, hundreds of beginners and some of
the best spots anywhere. The new crop of Philly
locals, like Ron Coalson. Rick Oyola, Drew Craig.
Sean McKenna. Greg Webb and Roger Browne
has grown up using the streets of Philadelphia as
their skatepark. Cops don't give a shit where you
skate, street or sidewalk, because they're out
there trying to arrest real criminals. Philly has its
share of security guards, but there's always a spot
to skate, day or night
Love Park is the East Coast Embarcadero,
smaller, but a lot smoother. Kids meet there to
skate, eat or just hang. It's best on a warm winter
day, because the fountain is drained. You are.
liable to see Matt Reasons. John Puca, Terrance
Hill and Rasool Childs skating the pseudo-marble
ledges and steps that surround the fountain
The brick transition at the Afro-American Museum
has a perfect, tight quarter-pipe that is best
skated at night because of security guards. Rat
Curbs, located in affluent Society Hill at Penn's
Landing. Anneburg Center, are always a laidback
session. The curbs are a good summer spot and
never a bust. Other spots include the marble
ledges at the Wawa, or if you're daring, you can
skate City Hall.
West Philly, especially the University of Pennsyl-
vania, is a weekend and summer skate haven,
complete with banks, benches, handrails, big
steps, horizontal slider bars and burly hills. For
those who like to venture into sketchy neighbor-
hoods, there's the Temple Bowl, a spined, tight-
transitioned bowl, and the Sarah School pyramid
banks. You're in for a real treat if you hook up
with Jason 40X and his sidekick Heavy D. These
two will keep you laughing as they show you
around the city. They turned a few of us on to the
fairly unknown Philadelphia Subway System,
which has spots set up like primo underground
parks, with stairs, rails and concrete obstacles
and tight transitions. You have to be in to find
these diamonds in the rough, but when the
weather is nasty, this is the place to be
If you are looking for food and music. Center
City is a virtual mecca. Ishkabibble's, on South
Street, is a skater favored spot for cheese steaks,
Over on Market Street, Allegro's has all your Ital-
ian food needs. While you're waiting for your
Longtime Philly local Roger
Browne (bottom left) nose
slides a public planter in the
heart of the city Bill Ferrell
(inset) frozen in time with
a classical north
pizza or pasta to cook, you can step out-
side and session the stairs and blue
handrails Rick Oyola has the place
wired to the point where people have
been known to bet him on certain tricks.
It's a sucker's bet because he can burl
with the best of 'em, meaning you lose!
At night, there are plenty of clubs to
shake your battered booty. The Chest-
nut Cabaret. TLA. The Trocadero. IC
Dobbs (where Roger is the #1 door-
man), and Revival are just a sampling of
the spots locals frequent
The skaters here believe that as long
as there is life on Earth, there will be
skaters at Love Park and that skating in
Philadelphia is forever. The only thing
they could ask for is an indoor facility
for the winter months; not that they
haven't tried. A while back. Roger found
a cheap location in Kensington, PA, for
an indoor park, got the funds, wrote the
check, then went on vacation When he
got back, the surrounding tenants
argued against the idea of a skatepark
and that was history. The closest thing
Philadelphia has come to a skatepark
was a ramp built by Rog. his friends Ari.
John Burke and Scott Slimm on the
ninth floor of an abandoned warehouse.
One day, workers who were replacing
pipes in the building dismantled the
ramp except for the flat bottom, which
was nailed to the floor. As a retaliatory
measure, someone threw the remains of
the ramp and the steel coping down the
elevator shaft, making the ninth floor.
repair work difficult.
There's no doubt that skating in this
city will progress, with young upstarts
continuing the tradition of having good.
attitudes and adapting to circumstances
in the city. As a rule, the skaters are
receptive to visitors, but, bring extra
energy to keep up with the pack and
leave your ego at home, or else you'll
find yourself alone-and fast.
30 TRAS MAGAZINE