Beneath the colossal Brooklyn Bridge lies a legendary skate spot. Brooklyn Banks. Its history is etched in the very bricks. Originally a construction area for the bridge itself the Banks held secrets. Nineteenth-century wine cellars slumbered beneath the surface. A Cold War bunker lay hidden too. A place to stash emergency supplies. In case of nuclear attack.
The trolley lines vanished in 1950. Car exit ramps rose. In 1972 the space under the ramps transformed. Parks Commissioner Henry Stern declared it Red Brick Park. A simple wooden sign. Landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg designed the distinctive wavelike banks. He didn’t intend to create a skate park. But skaters found their Mecca.
From the mid-1980s the Banks became New York City’s premier skate spot. Long before any official skateparks existed. For two decades Downtown skaters flocked to this haven. Then came 9/11. Access was briefly blocked. Yet skaters returned almost immediately. Even when the area remained closed to others. The city started using it for weekday parking. Limiting skating hours.
Renovations in 2004 destroyed the smaller banks. The city planned a green park. Skateboarder and community organizer Steve Rodriguez fought back. He rallied skaters. They lobbied the city. They saved the larger banks. The Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe promised a skateboard-friendly park. But in 2010 the area became bridge repair storage. The Banks closed for ten years. A petition in 2016 garnered 21718 signatures. Another in 2020 exceeded 53000.
Rodriguez fought again. The Banks partially reopened on May 24 2023. The 140th anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge opening. A planned redesign will rebuild the small banks. The big banks will reopen. Skateboarding lives on. A testament to the enduring spirit of skaters. A legend lives on beneath the bridge. Brooklyn Banks. A place where history is skated.