2012 Ohio Trip Photos
So we drove out to Rays last night and it took us 12 Hours to get there.
Some on the trip are saying its because I was lazy, and had Tyrone Williams drive most of the way.
He was seen driving 40 MPH in a 60 MPH zone.
We got in and slept from 9am to 1130 am. and headed to Rays.
We meet with Hollywood and other NYC natives Dave Hall and Brian Burnhart.
After the Rays session we went for a private session at Chenga 57 courtesy of Cole.
Here are some photos of the crew.
"Why did you allow the commissioner to destroy our skate park?"
Here is a video of me asking NYC Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe a question about the Benjamin Soto skate park on August 9th, 2011 at the Museum of New York City. More about the meeting here.
I guess he didn’t see this video.
Councilman Oddo Threatens To Cut Funds To Parks Department from Group Home Bikes on Vimeo.
Thanks Johanna at parkslope.patch.com
Ryan Humphrey: Domestic Bliss
Here is some photos to a Art Show Ryan Humphrey has going on in Salina Art Center in Kansas.
Now click you shoes 3 times and get to Kansas.
One way
The Space
Air
I wish this was my living room. Maybe when I move to Detroit.
Happy ass skater.
Check out more here.
Edit Now 50.
Here are 50 of photos that have some have been sitting in a folder on my desktop for almost a year now. The folder name is edit now.
There are some shots in here I am very proud of and think you will really like.
Remember someone is always watching you.
Staten Island Bike riders volunteer to
Staten Island Bike riders volunteer with the South Beach Civic Association and give out flyers and spread awareness of Mayor Bloomberg’s Fire house closings.
They rode around in the back of Chris’s pick up truck.
And here are the photos from the Rally.
Here is a link to the story on SILIVE.
http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/south_beach_residents_rally_to.html
Back to the Beach with NYC Parks Dept Characters
Life seems to be like smoke and mirrors sometimes. Its all a show that eventually ends. It may not be a good one but its something to watch. I am glad I am here right now to see it. Back to the beach was on Wednesday May 25th, 2011.
We decided, we being the Friends of the skate park would go to this event where the NYC Parks Dept Characters come to the beach and cut a yellow ribbon to mark the opening of the beach to the public. But you are not allowed to swim in the water until Saturday May 28th. Why they would have a back to the beach on a Wednesday and not open the beach on the day they cut the ribbon? Its called smoke and mirrors.
So we showed up all wearing shirts that say Where is OUR skate park?
So of coarse we printed extra to give out as you see here almost the whole crowd had one on.
It is also said that one of the Parks Dept staff even took a shirt, maybe because he or she feel that they should have not have demolished it.
Yes your kids are in these peoples hands.
What a nice day to go to the skate park if Staten Island had one.
Ocena Breeze Civic and South Beach Civic always supporting.
Great photo. Timing is everything.
NY1
yup.
Back to the beach 2011 but no one is there.
Letters to the Advance about the skate park. Did you write one yet?
Here are some letters that were published in the Staten Island Advance. Did you write one yet?
By EDWARD POLLIO
PRINCE’S BAY
My name is Edward Pollio, and I am writing to you on behalf of the 300 kids who utilized the Benjamin Soto Skate Park here on Staten Island and their parents, who have looked to me as a resource in working with the New York City Parks Department to keep the skate park open for the past five years.
Since its opening in 2005, Benjamin Soto Skate Park in Midland Beach has been a refuge to Staten Island kids, where they can stay off the streets, off drugs, and out of trouble.
More than just its ramps and rails, this park is the heart and soul of our community – parents, children, and community activists alike have rallied behind the park as a place for neighborhood kids to come together and share in their love of skate sports.
Despite our continued initiatives to bring attention to the Parks Department’s ongoing neglect of the space, which has fallen into disrepair in recent months from its constant use, the park was closed last October due to the unsafe condition of the equipment.
This catalyzed a unified effort from the Staten Island community to get funding from the Parks Department to have the equipment resurfaced and repaired.
You can imagine our shock when a group of neighborhood boys rode over to the park on the first day of their spring break only to find bulldozers tearing apart their favorite hangout.
After all our efforts to get the park cleaned up for the warmer months, how could it have been demolished without warning? The Skate Park community was not given notice, nor the chance to raise funds for the park’s repair.
Moreover, I cannot express our disappointment that this youth community keystone is being torn down to make way for a “streetscape” park.
As it stands, the Parks Department’s future plans for the space are a far cry from what Benjamin Soto Skate Park seeks to provide – a permanent place for Staten Island’s extreme sports community to practice their sport, teach one another and hone their skills.
As the originators of the space’s concept, we would have been more than happy to put in the volunteer labor required to bring the park up to code.
Benjamin Soto Skate Park must be reinstated. Not only to provide the kids with a safe place to ride, but also because it is a pillar of the community, a cherished memorial to Benjamin Soto.
Benjamin always dreamed of returning from his Marine service to open a place just like our skate park, but he didn’t live to see his dream come to fruition.
I hope you won’t let his dream die.
WE NEED YOUR HELP. Please help us keep this safe haven alive.
http://www.silive.com/opinion/letters/index.ssf/2011/04/communitys_support_needed_to_s.html
By RAYMOND RUSINAK
WEST BRIGHTON
Today’s kids are supposedly consumed by video games, TV and the computer. Today’s parents are supposedly over-involved in organizing our children’s lives through a myriad of sports leagues and organizations. This is not the case with at least one group of kids: those involved in skateboarding, BMX biking and other so called extreme sports.
The kids who take part in these activities aren’t tied to their couches, TV’s and computers. Nor do they rely on their parents to organize their activities and games for them. They go to the park and do their own thing. The older kids help the younger ones with tips and encouragement. They share equipment and tools among each other. The kids get along, they teach each other, they learn from each other, they bond with one another. Most importantly they grow as individuals with one another.
For anyone who has spent any time at all at the former Benjamin Soto Skate Park in Midland Beach, you know exactly what I am talking about. Unfortunately, if you have not had the pleasure to have seen these kids skating and riding at Ben Soto you may never have the opportunity to do so again. Last Monday, the Parks Department brought in bull dozers and leveled the park.
It had fallen into a state of disrepair, something the kids themselves have been quite aware of. Many of them pursued the official and proper channels in order to get repairs done. Nothing happened until the bulldozers leveled Ben Soto. “Officially,” the park had become dangerous largely due to vandalism.
Sure there was graffiti on some of the ramps, but the park had become a hazard not due to vandals or misuse. No, the park had become hazardous because it was such a success. Skateboarding and BMX riding can be very rough on its environment. The ramps needed resurfacing, the rails needed work, etc.
The park could very easily have been repaired without destroying what was already in place. But no, the Parks Department felt the need to take it all down. They now say that it will be rebuilt in three weeks time with “modern streetscape elements, including reinforced steel picnic tables, granites steps, cement planters and a single pipe rail.”
Even to the uninitiated, this certainly doesn’t sound much like a skate park. The Benjamin Soto Skate Park should be rebuilt as a skate park with at least the same amenities it had when it was first opened in 2005. The skaters and rider should also be given input in its design.
It is a shame that all of this had to come to pass because it could very easily have been avoided and as such could have saved the city a good amount of money. But that moment has passed and it is time to move on. Let’s just hope that the powers that be don’t forget that this small amount of space was and should still be about the kids.
http://www.silive.com/opinion/letters/index.ssf/2011/04/rebuild_skate_park_demolished.html
By CAROLINE BJORLING
GRANT CITY
First we get a clueless New York City schools chancellor, Cathie Black
Now it’s a clueless Borough Parks Commissioner, Adena Long.
Her authorized destruction (instead of repair) of the Benjamin Soto Skate Park shows she is unaware (or uncaring) of the importance of this only skate park on Staten Island.
The teen years go quickly, and a couple of years make a huge difference in development of skills needed in this sport.
Ms. Long, in effect, has stolen that time from our teens for the sake of a few picnic tables and planters which she claims are “what kids like to play on.”
Oh, really?
http://www.silive.com/opinion/letters/index.ssf/2011/04/demolition_of_skate_park_shows.html
By KIMBERLY PAPANIER
NEW DORP
I just wanted to thank the Parks Department and Staten Island politicians for keeping up the trend of making empty promises.
That was a stellar job Monday of dismantling the Ben Soto Skate Park in a matter of hours. How quickly you can get things done when it suits you.
For the last two years, the kids who use the park have been asking for the park to be renovated, but there hasn’t been money for it.
What was the point of all the civic meetings, then? The Parks Department went about things in a sneaky way and I refuse to believe the Staten Island politicians had no knowledge.
Once again, the other four boroughs can provide better services to the people who live there while we remain the “forgotten borough.” Thanks for nothing!
http://www.silive.com/opinion/letters/index.ssf/2011/04/surprise_dismantling_of_popula.html
Here are some other address’s you may want to email also.
James Oddo: NYC Councilman
District Office Phone - 718-980-1017
Legislative Office Phone - 212-788-7159
Phone - 718-980-1045
Email - oddo@council.nyc.ny.us
Adrian Benepe: NYC Parks Dept. Commissioner
Phone 212-360-1305
Email - adrian.benepe@parks.nyc.gov
Adena Long: Staten Island Parks Commissioner
Phone – 718-390-8004
Email - adena.long@parks.nyc.gov
Mayor Bloomberg: NYC Mayor
Email - http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mayor.html
Fax – (212) 312-0700
Michael Schnall: Sten Island Director of Government.
Email - michael.schnall@parks.nyc.gov
Please sign this petition - http://www.change.org/petitions/restore-and-rebuild-benjamin-soto-skate-park
Benjamin Soto skate park petition on Ride BMX site.
Steve Quigly, a Staten Islander, hit me up with this email…
‘On Monday, April 18th, 2011, the New York City Parks Department tore down Staten Island’s only skatepark, “Ben Soto Skatepark”, named after a BMX rider who passed away serving his country in 2001. The Park Department said that park was torn down due to hazardous conditions of the ramps, however, the ramps needed very little maintenance to get them into brand new shape (IE: re-sheeting of main layers, tightening and replacing screws). This beautiful skatepark was torn down, and is said to be replaced with “streetscape elements” consisting of 1 rail, planters and stairs. This is not what the BMX community wants, but Parks does not seem to care to much about what we think. We started this petition to show the Parks Department that the Ben Soto Skatepark is truly missed, and we need a park of equal or better structure, not 1 single rail and a few stairs. It will really be appreciated if you sign this petition and join the facebook group! The larger amount of people that sign and join, the better we look and the better chance we have of getting a great skatepark in Staten Island! Thanks a lot!!’
Sign the petition, and join the Facebook group below and show your support for Shaolin!
Petition link:
http://www.change.org/petitions/restore-and-rebuild-benjamin-soto-skate-park
Facebook link:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_140181056053194&ap=1
http://bmx.transworld.net/1000127612/news/ben-soto-skatepark-petition/
South Beach Civic Meeting April 27, 2011 at 7Pm
I was always amazed on the numbers of people who showed up to all the civic meetings, town hall meetings, and community board meetings. But this one is the most important. The local politicians and media is going to be there and the South Beach Civic is making accommodation’s for mass numbers we are going to have at this next meeting. Plus I have a surprise guest coming to this meeting. So please tell a friend to tell a friend and stand up for your skate park.
Please sign this petition - http://www.change.org/petitions/restore-and-rebuild-benjamin-soto-skate-park
Facebook link:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_140181056053194&ap=1
Photos of the Benjamin Soto skate park being torn down.
On April 18, 2011 the NYC Parks Department decided to ignore the cries for help by the user’s of the Benjamin Soto skate park; on that day a staff of 20 Parks Department employees tore down the whole skate park. If you follow this website you would have seen that for the past few months user’s of the Benjamin Soto skate park have been going to civic meetings, community board meetings, town hall meetings, and lobbying their local politicians to get the park re-layered with new plywood and skatelite. Parks seems to have had a hidden agenda to punish the users for reaching out to the media and civic groups. According to the Staten Island Advance, Parks says, that they plan to install “modern streetscape elements,” including reinforced steel picnic tables, granites steps, cement planters and a single pipe rail. They go on to quote Staten Island’s new Parks Dept. Commissioner Adena Long stating that, “These are in things you would generally see in any public plaza or public park, and quite frankly, is what the kids like to play on anyway,”
But the truth is that none of the BMX and Skate community have seen the design, or have been contacted to help with the design. This skate park cost NYC over $500,000.00 in 2004, and now there’s no other skate park on Staten Island.
Kids riding the park in protest.
The staff tearing the railings down.
Benjamin Soto was a U.S Marine/ BMX bike rider who dreamed of opening a skate park in his home town of Staten Island. He passed away in 2001 and Parks Dept. named the park after him when they built it in 2005.
2 kids trying to stop the bulldozer from tearing down the skate park.
NYPD was called in by NYC parks Dept.
Sit in.
NYPD told the kids if they didn’t get out they would be arrested.
Here is a shot of the inside of the quarter pipe which is said to be in disrepair and it’s dangerous to the children. Looks strong to me.
The kids watched them tear it down all day.
Here is the link to the photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ghbnyc/sets/72157626406525797/
Here a petition to save the skate park:
http://www.change.org/petitions/restore-and-rebuild-benjamin-soto-skate-park
And Facebook link to save the skate park:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_140181056053194&ap=1
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