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The season's second Williamsburg Walks took place this weekend (last Saturday was rained out), with Bedford Avenue closed to traffic from North 4th to North 9th Streets. Community groups set up tables, chairs, blankets and pillows for passers-by to linger and chat, and an atmosphere of peaceful conviviality prevailed—until the teenagers came with their accursed skateboards! With its indoor half-pipe, the KCDC skate shop on Wythe has been a magnet for skaters for years now, and on Saturday the place was packed for Go Skateboarding Day, with hundreds of youths rolling over to Bedford to gleam the cube.
At times the constant stream of skaters swelled to a critical mass of hundreds, with some tables and barricades getting knocked over in the flood. Also: LOUD! Reacting to the incessant swarm, Williamsburg local Paul Wegimont says, "I don't have any vendetta against skateboarders, but when the street is closed down and you have tables set up and small children out there then you shouldn't be allowed to blaze through on your skateboard. It's borderline dangerous." Wegimont thinks police should require skateboarders and cyclists to dismount and walk, and given cops' instinctive tendency to hassle skaters and bikers, we don't see why this shouldn't happen. After all, it's Williamsburg Walks, not Williamsburg Shreds.
But Ryan Kuonen at Neighbors Allied for Good Growth [NAG], which co-organizes Williamsburg Walks with the L Magazine, insists the previous Saturday wasn't nearly as saturated with skaters. She tells us, "It would have been nice if they'd been more respectful. But I'd hate to see rules implemented to bar someone from politely cruising through on a bike or skateboard." Okay, we'll see how it goes this Saturday, but if armies of skaters start marauding through again, we're stringing up some tripwire.
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yeah I made the mistake of walking down berry this weekend and was almost hit at least twice by some kid not know how to stop his board. Then on bedford there were groups just trying tricks in the street I may seen two kids actually land something they tried, mostly they just held up traffic.
As an old time skateboarder I wouldn't want to see any rules set in stone....but as someone who has experienced the more anoying side of skating too....well, if they get out of hand.....a few handfuls of gravel in the thruway will slow them down...just saying.
haha. poor williamsburg.. skating boarding kids. oh noes!! they should grow up and get fixies.
Easy solution to all this - get a few bags of decorative rocks and pebbles from home depot and scatter them down Bedford at the beginning of the day.
it was GO SKATEBOARDING DAY, that was why you whiny transplant morons.
Yeah, it's not going to happen every weekend. June 27th was the rain date for Go Skateboarding Day:
http://www.officialnewyork.com/v1.1/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1244842054
Skateboarding Day + street fair = What could possibly go wrong?
Or..
Are _______________ Teens Ruining _____________?
YES!
I was there Saturday -- the 'boarders were there, not in overwhelming numbers. What drives people nuts about the 'boarders is that it's so damn noisy. I'm sure if you asked 12-16 year old guys, which encompasses most skateboarders, and they'd say noise is the point.
But I'm 50 and I should get dead like Billy Mays.
www.forgotten-ny.com
I got stuck in the middle of a big group of them on Sat but I mean, what's the big deal? Kid's will be kid's at least they are riding through a street where there are no cars to run them over. Yes it's loud for about 30secs but it's not nearly has loud as the choppers that ride through on Friday and Saturday nights.
this was a once a year event, "Go Skateboarding Day". The route every year has been to skate en masse from Thompkins Sq. Park over the Williamsburg Bridge, down Bedford to KCDC. I suppose no one planned for the Williamsburg Walks event to be there. I don't think anything like this would happen again since it is a one day event.
It was noisy, yes. Big deal. I navigated myself, my mate , and my dog through a couple of "swarms". We survived, and just felt kind of old. I would be surprised if there were any reports of injuries other than skinned knees or elbows on the riders. People are being kill joys, just because it's something to bitch about. If anything, the skateboarders that frequent KCDC skate shop, should be pissed that the DOT is gonna reroute south bound Kent avenue truck traffic down their street, and towards the new skate park in McCarren Park. http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/kent_ave.pdf
Go sk8boarding Day!
That was one saturday and they do it every year. the williamsburg walk people should have talked to the skate people to make it work out...
otherwise nt for nothing I had a great time at the last one July 11th 09 the WGA + creative thriftshop block was AMAZING! I stayed all day and breaking that piano was a total blast!
check photos and videos here: http://www.creativethriftshop.com/Exhibition/2009htm/PR_WGA-7in6.htm