Andy Kessler Skatepark formerly Riverside Skatepark is a

skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, scootering, wheelchairs, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairsets, q ...

located in Riverside Park on the

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

, New York City. Riverside Skatepark is notable as the first full-sized public skatepark in Manhattan, designed and built by renowned skateboarder and skatepark builder Andy Kessler.

Terrain

Andy Kessler Skatepark is a concrete skatepark built by California Skateparks consisting of a street plaza and a pool. It maintains a similar footprint as the original skatepark of approximately 30,000 square feet overall.
The street plaza consists of stairs, ledges, rails, banks, bank to ledge and a 4 foot mini ramp.
The pool is 11 foot deep in the deep end with 18" of vert, the shallow end is 6.5 feet deep. The pool has pool coping.

History

Built in 1995-1996, Riverside Skatepark was the first full-sized public skatepark in Manhattan. Andy Kessler headed up efforts to create Riverside Skatepark in collaboration with the New York City Parks Department and Riverside Parks Conservancy administrator Charles McKinney. The wooden park was built with the help of teenagers from

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

and the

. Riverside Skatepark opened in August 1996.

Preservation effort (2012-2018)

In 2012 Riverside skatepark had fallen into disrepair and had low attendance, Ian Clarke of

NYC Skateboard Coalition NYC Skateboard Coalition, established in 2017, is a community organization that advocates for New York City's skateparks and hosts NYC-based skateboard events. The NYC Skateboard Coalition supports the skateboarding community of New York City thr ...

led an effort on two fronts to preserve the historic skatepark.

Repairs

Ian Clarke led permitted repairs with the cooperation of Riverside Parks Conservancy and other skateboarders to repair and restore the historic ramps.

Events

To bring attention to the neglected skatepark, Ian Clarke organized the annual Riverside Skate Jam event starting in 2013 with the cooperation of Riverside Parks Conservancy, help from other skateboarders and sponsorship from local skate shops and brands.

Concrete remodel (2019-2021)

In June 2019, the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

broke ground on a concrete remodel of the Riverside Skatepark.

Renaming (2019-2021)

In 2019 after the skatepark groundbreaking,

petitioned local elected officials and community board 7 to rename the skatepark after Andy Kessler. In March 2020, the community board approved the renaming. In October 2021 the new signage went up.

Plaque (2022)

In December 2022

installed a plaque at the skatepark to honor Andy Kessler.

Terrain 1996-2019

Riverside Skatepark, prior to the concrete remodel in 2019, was approximately 100 ft. by 300 ft. making it about 30,000 sq ft. Prior to the concrete remodeling, its main features were wooden ramps, the biggest being a

vert ramp A vert ramp is a form of half-pipe used in extreme sports such as vert skating, vert skateboarding and vert BMX. Vert ramps are so named because they transition from a horizontal plane (known as the flat-bottom) to a vertical section on top. ...

, 10 ft high by 28ft long, including a foot of vert. Other features included a 6 ft mini ramp, a micro mini ramp and a wall ride.

Events

The annual Riverside Skate Jam is held at the end of the season, typically September or October, featuring judged competitions with 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes awarded for Juniors Micro Mini Ramp, Girls Micro Mini Ramp, Wall Ride, Vert Ramp under 40's and Vert Ramp Masters (40 and over).

References

{{reflist Riverside Park (Manhattan) Skateparks in New York City Skateparks in the United States Upper West Side