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Brooklyn Banks No Match For Bridge Construction
By
Ellen T
Published Oct 23, 2009
Modified Oct 23, 2009
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By
Ellen T
Published Oct 23, 2009
Modified Oct 23, 2009
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The city has made up its mind. Come December, the Brooklyn Banks will be boarded up and transformed into a construction area for the Brooklyn Bridge rehabilitation project, Scott Gastel, spokesperson for the city Dept. of Transportation told Downtown Express.
While there is a chance the gritty street-style park may reopen in 2014 with a few new shiny touches, old school skateboarders are not psyched on the idea. Steve Rodriguez, the owner of 5boro Skateboards, said, “It’s like saying, ‘We’re going to remove the Statue of Liberty, why is that bad? It’s a spot that’s been skated since the ’60s and ’70s. It’s the historic center of skateboarding on the East Coast. It’s like a shrine, almost.” He also said he could easily get hundreds of people to turn out to a public hearing on the closure.
Then there are those who are already making their voices heard at Community Board 1 meetings. The Downtown Express reports that Una Perkins, a board member, said she was worried that the unsupervised teens were running across the Brooklyn Bridge ramps and could get hurt and John Fratta, chairperson of the board’s Seaport/Civic Center Committee, added the skateboarders were “way out of control.”
Even though the city says the decision is final, skateboard activists are hoping for a last-minute stay. But one younger skater said, "I don’t really care. It needs a cleaning…. There’s bird [crap] everywhere, and you can fall and trip over a goddamn rock. It’s dangerous."
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brooklyn banks
brooklyn bridge
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Ellen T
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