Upper West Sider Greg Navarro recently finished making a film about people who skateboard around the Soldiers and Sailors Monument at 89th Street and Riverside Drive. We featured a preview last October. Now that he’s finished, it got picked up by Thrasher Magazine, a major skateboarding publication.
This is how Thrasher describes the film: “Feedback Ted and his fellow low-impact ledge lords do a lot with a little on their crusty Upper West Side monument. This is curb culture at its classiest.”
Ledge Lords!
The Upper West Side has long been a haven for street skateboarders who use the environment to do tricks.
Check out the full movie below. It’s got some nice jazz too and even some blood a little after the 4 minute mark.
Wow! Thank you Upper West Side Rag. This movie was a dream to make. Sure, I understand skateboarding contains a lot of controversies in the public sphere. But, I hope that everyone can see we love our neighborhood. I wanted to tell a story through a different medium. Riverside is a special place. The West Side is a true beauty.
I live right across the monument and I love watching the kids skate, and I notice how they are quite respectful of the tiny humans and dogs and elderly who congregate nearby.
Thanks for making this movie.
The answer to what to do during the pandemic lock down is right here.
Amazing young men doing amazing skate boarding at an amazing site.
New York city at its finest.
Thank you for this.
Inspiring!
Awesome video! I grew up skating these same ledges
The skill is amazing, but I have to point out that park monuments are made of granite and marble, and these materials are vulnerable to damage from skateboarding. Minute cracks and chips are created which let in water that freezes, splitting the stone. Soldiers and Sailers is already falling apart, and there’s no money to fix it.
I’ve seen people filming skateboarders on the railings at the new bus loading area at 100th Street, too. The paint is scraped off, and the railings are loosened.
I get it: urban skateboarding is awesome. But whatever money there was to fix our crumbling streetscape has disappeared in the pandemic. There’s an incredible (and incredibly expensive) new skatepark in Riverside Park. Please, guys. Go there, and leave our monuments and infrastructure alone.
How about the cracks and scratches on these young people’s souls from living in the already crumbling world we’ve given them? Let them skate.
So let them crumble it further by damaging a monument? As was mentioned, there’s a beautiful $2,866,000 skate park built expressly for their enjoyment right there in Riverside.
Skateboards are usurping public space by making it dangerous to walk through their violent dangerous daredevils antics. What with scooters and motorized vehicles on the sidewalks taking a walk in the park is more dangerous for an old man than COVID 19.
Longtime WSR reader, first-time commenter here.
One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from Jerry Seinfeld to Chris Rock:
“I’ll tell you one of the great activities is skateboarding. To learn to do a skateboard trick, how many times have you got to get something wrong before you get it right?…And you hurt yourself… You learn to do that trick, now you’ve got a life lesson. Whenever I see those skateboard kids, I think those kids will be alright.”
Great little film and great music. Thanks, I enjoyed it! I love the UWS!!!!