Getting Some Air in Riverside

Adrenalin is flowing on a clear Saturday morning at Riverside Skate Park. Two skateboarders take turns zigzagging up and down the sides of a steep half-pipe, while a third becomes airborne off a ramp. With the sun finally out after days of rain, skaters are pumped to be back on their boards, cruising alongside the sparkling Hudson River. Even better for these skaters, their 11-year-old, slightly cracked, and noticeably rusty haven is about to get a face-lift.

Just eight blocks south of Columbia's campus is the only place designated for skating in upper Manhattan. Riverside Skate Park attracts skaters from as far as Westchester and Long Island. It features free admission, long hours, an attendant during operating hours, half pipes, quarter pipes, rails, fun-boxes, pyramids, and a roll-over. Proper equipment-particularly helmets-is required, and before using the facilities, users must sign a waiver that covers all injuries.

Despite its popularity, however, the park has had few additions since it opened in 1995. According to James Dowell, president of the Riverside Park Fund, a community project to fix broken features and discuss new ramp additions will take place in early spring. Although the area around the skate park will be resurfaced in the next few weeks, the skate park will not see fresh asphalt for at least a year.

"I'm excited for new pavement," says 11-year-old Shayne Roffey, one of nearly 30 boarders and bladers (bikers are no longer allowed), riding, grinding, and even flipping at the park that Saturday morning. "But I think what the park really needs is some concrete ledges."

Jack Szozda, 28, who has used the skate park since it opened, concurs, adding, "The pavement is still pretty smooth, but if the loose rails are not fixed, people are going to get hurt."

Kyle Bruser CC '09, who has skated at Riverside Park in the past, is excited for the revisions. The current park is "pretty poor quality compared to most and is rarely open in winter and spring." He tends to stay around campus, "especially along College Walk or on the streets in Morningside Heights." According to John Murolo, director of Columbia's Morningside Campus Area Operations, skating anywhere on school grounds is prohibited for liability reasons, but if skaters are considerate, the rule is rarely enforced.

Still, skaters in Manhattan have limited options for practice locations. Many skaters opt for bouncing off railways, curbs, and stairs around the neighborhood or dodging taxis and pedestrians. Students and community members alike will have to endure another winter before the renovations to Riverside Skate Park are made.

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