For the second project I’m going to choose Skate Brooklyn. This is a skateboarding shop located near the Atlantic Center Mall on Saint Marks PL between 4th and 5th AVE. I chose this shop because there is a whole new group of people, way of thinking, and world to Brooklyn most people have never thought about and they soon realize it right after you walk through the hidden entrance in the back of a garage. I felt this was the best place that I know to portray a juxtaposition, this just being a shop or a second home for Brooklyn skaters.
“You start building your private New York the first time you lay eyes on it.” – “City Limits” 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.
“My 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.” – “Fort Greene Dreams” 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.
