Sadman Plaza

Who skate stops a curb? Whether it was the City of New York or some group within the federal court system, it’s been done.

We’ve spent A LOT of hours at Cadman Plaza curbs since the street was redone in 2020. They were truly something special. The fact that they’re made of granite is enough to marvel over, as well as the fact that the street on which they sit is both largely closed off from traffic, well lit at night, and next to a big beautiful park. Sure, there were delivery drivers silently flying down the street on their electric bikes, and yes, we at times had to listen to the music of a heavily canceled R. Kelly blast from supporters’ speakers during his trial within the court building. But the strangest part about this whole thing is… we were never told to leave. Having these curbs capped would feel totally different if there was ever a hint that we were not wanted there. Other than skateboarding being inherently a bit of a crime, there was no warning.

We are sad. People can say we are overreacting and that this spot will likely be liberated, but there is a gross feeling seeing the city prioritize something like this. Big respect to the local crew who hangs hard here (shoutout to Cyrus and Newman), shoutout to the hero who eventually pops these off, and absolutely zero love to whatever administrative body it was that wasted time and resources placing skatestoppers on a curb.