Article by Shardy Nieves
There seemed to be two separate sessions going on at once. There was Ivan and B Smith skating the marble ledges of Foley Square while Broskow and Bailey were shredding the courthouse drop ledge. Pedestrians stopped and became spectators as the session grew in numbers. There was so much shredding going on that as a photographer at times it was hard to decide where to shoot. The day seemed to be going great until Mother Nature pulled a fast one with a quick but heavy sun shower. Thanks to those of you who helped move my equipment out of the rain.
The session seemed to split up at that moment. A few made way to the Chinatown ledges while the majority of us found shelter under the pillars of the Supreme Court building. Rain wouldn’t be enough to stop this session and New York bladers are more innovative as ever finding any and everything to skate with minimal space provided. I gathered everyone together to take a group shot on the Supreme Court steps as the rain stopped. Once the sun came back out we all met up to motivate to the next spot which would be marble ledges on Wall street, probably one of the most skated spots in the city. We skated through 1 Police Plaza and made way toward the recently closed Brooklyn Banks. The site of the world famous skate spot now gated up for a 5-year reconstruction project made many of the older bladers reminisce of the good ‘ol days. A few taxi skitches later we ended up at marble ledge where the locals were already killing the spot.
Once everyone arrived we had taken over the narrow sidewalk and the snake session began. Although excited to be skating with the Valo pros New Yorkers had their own agenda and that was to session marble ledges until the world came to an end (6:00pm). As packed as the spot became, it was damn near impossible to get good shots without someone unknowingly crossing in front of your lens. At that moment I put down my camera and joined in on the session. The vibe was great and everyone seemed to enjoy skating together. At 5:59 we all began the countdown to the rapture. If your going out then go out doing what you love. If you’re reading this than obviously the rapture was all a hoax.
Shorty after the rain came down to end the session for the evening, although skaters such as Jon Julio and Hector “Happy Feet” Martinez continued to skate in the rain for a few more minutes. I think it was pretty sick that Valo came and interacted with the NYC skate scene and included us in the filming for Valo 5. Thanks to Jon Julio, Erik Bailey, Franco Cammayo, Alex Broskow, Ivan Narez, Brandon Smith and Victor Arias for showing love to our scene and Victor Callender for arranging this huge session. Check out some shots from the “End of the World” session, Valo4Life!
-Shardy “Juice” Nieves
