Part of Speech: Noun
Definition: Moral integrity
Source:Â http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rectitude
Encountered: In the article “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. “If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie.”
Understanding: I understand him saying that there is nothing morally correct about a true war story.
Part of Speech: Noun
Definition: Harmony
Source:Â http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/concord
Encountered:Â In the article “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. “In the midst of evil you want to be a good man. You want decency. You want justice and courtesy and human concord.”
Understanding: I understand what he’s explaining a soldier wants after a violent firefight. He has a new view on life, a immense pleasure of aliveness, and hopes for harmony.
Part of Speech: Noun
Definition: The unusual attitude, mood, or behavior of a person or animal
Source:Â http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/temperament?show=0&t=1387337342
Encountered:Â In the article “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien. “It’s always a woman. Usually it’s an older woman of kindly temperament and humane politics.”
Understanding: I understand what the word means and the type of women that may like his story.
Part of Speech: Noun
Definition: AÂ usually artificial lake that is used to store a large supply of water for use in people’s homes, in businesses, etc.
Source:Â http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reservoir
Encountered: In the article “City Limits” by Colson Whitehead. “That Bryant Park used to be a reservoir”
Understanding: I understand what Bryant Park used to be and Whitehead’s point about everyone has their own New York.
Part of Speech: Adj.
Definition: Unexpected
Source:Â http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/unheralded
Encountered:Â In the article “City Limits” by Colson Whitehead. “There are unheralded tipping points, a certain number of times that we will unlock the front door of an apartment.”
Understanding: I understand his point with you will never know when is the last time you will do something
The Brooklyn Banks is a three block area under the Brooklyn Bridge. It consists of various ledges, stairs, rails and barriers. However what it is most known for is the sloped architecture that surrounds the entrance of the bridge on the Manhattan side. It is most popular among skaters to a point which John Branch, of The New York Times, calls it a âskate meccaâ. Â Brooklyn takes credit for developing skating in the east coast and giving it a broader perspective on what is possible. With much love from the âunder-groundâ, the city did not recognize this place as significant to anyone. In November of 2004, the city decided the Banks would look nicer if it were green and was a park. Many people were outraged, especially Steve Rodriguez, a Bank skater since 1983 and owner of 5boro skateboards. He disputed their decision to tear down the banks. In an interview by The New York Times, by Justin Porter, Rodriguez says âIf youâre going to make some changes, you should work with the people who use the space.â Â Rodriguez ended up saving the park from destruction but was then closed again in 2010 for bridge maintenance. This task is rumored to be completed sometime in 2014 but nothing is certain.
Sources:
Louison, Cole. âRed Bull USA â Sports & Entertainment News | Teams & Athletes.âThe Brooklyn Banks Skatepark. N.p., 21 May 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
Porter, Justin. âUnder a Bridge, and on Top of the World.â The New York Times. N.p., 24 June 2005. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
â15 Things: Brooklyn Banks.â Skateboarder Magazine. N.p., 22 Mar. 2006. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.
Branch, John. âTo Fix Bridge, Skateboard Mecca May Be Lost.â The New York Times. N.p., 13 May 2010. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Interview conducted by me to the manger of Skate Brooklyn, Chris Liu.
Hello, to the next student sitting in this seat. You are not in high school anymore, stay focused on what is important and try your hardest not to slip up in the beginning because that is only going to make it that much harder for you to pass. This class is not only a mandatory class but also a way to better get to know your city. Itâs a very fun class that teaches you how to efficiently soak up information from data bases and how to properly cite them in your work. You even get to take a good amount of trips out of class to the library, to tour Brooklyn, and a place called the Brooklyn Historical Society or BHS. A few suggestions from me would be that make sure you do your work on time and do not let anything get in the way of you doing your work. You also want to write down the work you have to do on your phone that way you will not forget and specific details of each assignment. With these similar classes your work guidelines for each assignment can get confusing. Also remember to keep track of when you are supposed to write a summary of the class because it will pass right by and you wonât know what to write or might not do it at all. From the day you get the glossary assignment make sure to complete that as soon as possible and get that out of the way so you can have a clearer mind on the more heavily weighted assignments. Overall if you stay on top of your work and ask questions you should not have a hard time passing the class. The teachers are not going to ask for anything impossible from you so donât worry.
That day was the first day of speeches and the due date of project 4 in Prof. Rosen’s class. Upcoming assignments are to finish the glossary posts, your speech video, the advice to incoming students, your summary of project 4, and your 35 word summary from the ‘Being in Brooklyn” map.
Gabriel Algabyali
Project 4
The Brooklyn Banks or, âthe Banksâ, has been a well-known area to the likes of many groups and became increasingly popular as the word got out. Some groups benefited from this place in good and bad ways, some gave the place a terrible name, and a group that saw no significance to this piece of land. The Banks has a rich history and people who are emotionally connected to the structure, hereâs its story.
Firstly the Brooklyn Banks, although that being its unofficial name, is an area under the Brooklyn Bridge. It spans about three blocks and is filled with a type of sloped architecture with a small bank and a big bank, smooth bricked floor, the occasional bench, ledges, and different stair sets of various sizes. Â The name confuses many because itâs called the Brooklyn Banks but it is in Manhattan, it was given that name by a small group of people who first saw this place as a scared ground to develop their skills.
The skateboarders.
The skateboarders first chose this spot as their home as early as the 1970s because of how skateboarding started in California. Since people in Cali were the ones to create skateboarding it was only natural that they had a lot of influence over the people who wanted to skate also. When the people in New York started skating all they saw was people skating empty swimming pools and inclined surfaces in Cali, the Brooklyn skaters envied their scene and landscape. The closest thing they had to what the people in Cali had was the Banks. This is where word of the banks got out and soon would become the largest meeting point of skaters at any given time.
Skateboarding was still very young at this time and with the banks being the only vertical spot there were some innovations that took place by creative minds. New York is, for the most part, an extremely flat area and if you werenât at the banks there was nothing to do. Until a new form of skating started that was called freestyle. This form only involved you, your board and flat ground which give the skater more variety when performing tricks. However, this did not last long. The freestyle skateboarding was quickly evolved into an entirely different style that would take freestyle and apply the city in with it. Only to be taken up another level by the introduction of a new skill the Ollie. The Ollie is where you are able to jump by slamming the tail on the ground and sliding your front foot up the board, this birthed modern street skating by the Brooklyn skaters taking this move to the Banks and using it to skate obstacles in a new way. The Banks blew up with skaters showing their skills and exclusive city style at the Banks only to be given more publicity with an influential video, which initially featured the banks, called âFuture Primitiveâ by a skate company named Powell Peralta. People then immediately started to come to this place from all of the boroughs and other states with the nationwide attention.
With the evolution of skateboarding the Banks has remained a central point where something was always being developed or improved. This became a home for all the skaters of New York, out of state, and even the whole east coast and being referred to as a âSkateboard Meccaâ by Cole Louison of Red Bull USA in 2012. Even though the skaters were the ones that mainly inhabited this place there were many people that had different views on the Banks. There were derelicts would come about to the Banks and this abandon building in front where they would start to live in and see the Banks as a home and they even stole electricity from a nearby street lamp to make their stay more comfortable while running a secret chop shop inside of the building that authorities were unaware of for several years. There was another group of people who saw the banks as a quick way to make some money, they were the ruffians from nearby projects. These hoodlums would come to the banks with hockey masks with bats attempting to rob skaters. Finally the city officials had a completely different view from all of the other groups, they saw the Banks as an insignificant piece of land. With this opinion the city officials started to do something that shocked the community of skateboarding.
In November of 2004, the city decided the Banks would look nicer if it were green and was a park. The city began to close the banks down, set up a fence and start construction but not without a hassling from Steve Rodriguez, a Bank skater since 1983 and owner of 5boro skateboards. Rodriguez found out who was the leader of this project and began to give a heartfelt speech about what the place meant to the skaters. According to the article âTo Fix Bridge, Skateboard Mecca May Be Lostâ by John Branch of The New York Times, Rodriguez goes on to say âIf youâre going to make some changes, you should work with the people who use the space.â He then started giving the city ideas that not only would they save money by replacing a few ledges to make them more useful for skating but that they would give a safe place where people could skate without getting harassed. According to the New York Times article âUnder a Bridge, and on Top of the Worldâ by Justin Porter in 2005, Mr. Redmond, who was the director of the renovation project, said “Since this was so popular with the skateboarders, we felt that that was a good activity at this location.” Â The city finally accepted the deal but not soon enough as a part of the banks were already destroyed, this saddened many but no one was happier than the skaters that have their home salvaged. Only to be taken away from them again.
In the summer of 2010, the city again shut down the Brooklyn Banks to paint the bridge but since then it has been 4 years and is now a parking lot for construction equipment. Steve Rodriguez is playing his role in trying to make sure the Banks are as untouched as possible but not much word is going around now. There are rumors that the park will open again in 2014 but nothing is promised and even if it does open there is no way to be sure that the place isnât damaged by the weight of construction vehicles and the oil that drips from these machines. According to an interview I had with store manager Chris Liu, manager of Skate Brooklyn, on November 26 says âI remember skating the Banks as I grew up, so much going on and it really made me feel like I belong. Such a shame itâs behind bars.â
Sources:
Louison, Cole. “Red Bull USA – Sports & Entertainment News | Teams & Athletes.”The Brooklyn Banks Skatepark. N.p., 21 May 2012. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.
Porter, Justin. “Under a Bridge, and on Top of the World.” The New York Times. N.p., 24 June 2005. Web. 21 Nov. 2013.
“15 Things: Brooklyn Banks.” Skateboarder Magazine. N.p., 22 Mar. 2006. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.
Branch, John. “To Fix Bridge, Skateboard Mecca May Be Lost.” The New York Times. N.p., 13 May 2010. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
Interview conducted by me to the manger of Skate Brooklyn, Chris Liu.
New York has an urban culture that most people do not know about and if they do, they do not know enough about it. The culture is appreciated by many people, a good amount share the experience, but only a handful take it seriously to the point where it has become a “way of life” as some would say. It has spread from California from where it started about 50 to 60 years ago and amazingly made its across the country to the east side. The practice I am discussing is skateboarding and it has a home for the borough of Brooklyn. The home is called Skate Brooklyn.
The most influential spot at the time, and still is today, is a long inclined wall under the Brooklyn bridge called the Brooklyn Banks. When skateboarding first brought to New York for some reason it started with this dirty spot under a bridge, some would say it became a mecca to skaters. This is one of the best skate parks if you are ever in New York mostly because it was never suppose to be a park, the city has helped with renovating the area and stopping it from getting shut down more than once.
âYou start building your private New York the first time you lay eyes on it.â â âCity Limitsâ by Colson Whitehead
This quote relates to my essay because I feel the skaters pay attention more to the city than anybody else. A skater could tell you about any spot in the city from the private New York in their head, from the stair-sets, rails, ledges, smoothness of the ground, and security in the area. There is a whole list of details in a skaters head and they can explain to you every crack and crevice just from a few seconds of staring at a spot.
With all this going on the Brooklyn skaters needed a stable and legal area to be in peace. This is where Skate Brooklyn comes in.
To reach this location from Prof. Rosen’s class you must make your way down the Namm Hall stairs and exit the building from main entrance. The first turn you make is a right and walk along Jay Street and turn left onto Johnson where you will see a dead end but don’t worry because once you hit the dead end you make another right. When you make that right you will come to this huge open area with many trees in the middle, head toward the trees and you should see a cafe called Cafe Metro, you want to leave this area through the exit located next to that cafe. Once you leave you will come to a street called Flatbush and you need to start heading to the right on that street, you will know you’re going in the right direction if you notice that the buildings go from large and extravagant to small and dingy. Soon you will arrive at a giant clock tower and now you have made it to the Atlantic Shopping Center which is the central point of all business in Brooklyn. You then have to take a right on 4th avenue where you will see a little building surrounded by tiny concrete columns protruding from the ground, don’t worry you are almost there. After about 4 blocks when you walk down 4th avenue you will hit a street called Saint Marks Pl then you turn left and congratulations you have made it to the Brooklyn skater’s abode.
This is the entrance.
You enter from the back of the garage.
Most people see this place and think “Oh wow, a clothing store” but a skater sees an opportunity. One of the greatest juxtapositions you will ever find in skateboarding is the people who love what they do against the people who just do it because they just had an impulse to buy something here. This local skate shop gives the few who are passionate a chance to get known, get coverage, and a chance to progress. This place sponsors and supports local skaters in Brooklyn with free merchandise to continue skating because it can get expensive have to continuously buy boards and shoes. The shop also has a mini ramp to help people improve their vert skills. There is so many people that call this shop their second home and have so much love for this place and the people inside, then there is the regular consumer who just comes in to buy a board every year or so and maybe a few shirts. It is very easy to tell the difference between the two types of people that walk through that door.
âMy dream was to write a bookshelf of volumes, so many that one day I might drown in them, paper and ink suffocating me in an ocean of my own thoughts.â â âFort Greene Dreamsâ by Nelson George
This quote relates to my essay and why I chose Skate Brooklyn because George said this to express his passion and how he just wants to surrounded by it. I feel that when in Skate Brooklyn a skater really feels at home and the feeling being surrounded by something you love is such an indescribable feeling to explain to someone.
Sources:
Branch, John. “To Fix Bridge, Skateboard Mecca May Be Lost.” The New York Times., 13 May 2010., Web. 16 October 2013.
Whitehead, Colson. âCity Limits.â The Colossus of New York: A City in Thirteen Parts. New York: Random House, 2004. 1-12.
George, Nelson. âFort Greene Dreams.â City Kid: A Writerâs Memoir of Ghetto Life and Post-Soul Success. New York: Viking, 2009. 176-187. E-book.
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