A tipster passed along an email from Steve Rodriguez, owner of 5boro Skateboards, which outlines information about the Department of Transportation's plans for Brooklyn Banks, the popular Manhattan skate park under the Brooklyn Bridge. The unofficial skating area will be closed due to the DOT's multiyear bridge rehab project. more ›

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. more ›

The Downtown Express reports that an area under the Brooklyn Bridge that's a popular skatepark called Brooklyn Banks (video) will probably be closing: "The city plans to use the internationally known Brooklyn Banks skate park as a staging area during the Brooklyn Bridge reconstruction, which is starting later this year and will last until 2014," according to the Parks Department. And the Department of Transportation "said the city would definitely need the space" at some point. more ›