Andy Kessler (skateboarder)
Andy Kessler Skatepark (formerly Riverside Skatepark): In March 2020, Manhattan Community Board 7 approved the renaming of Riverside Park to Andy Kessler Skatepark.
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=== Andy Kessler Skatepark (formerly Riverside Skatepark) === |
=== Andy Kessler Skatepark (formerly Riverside Skatepark) === |
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Kessler headed up efforts to create a skatepark in Riverside Park, which was dedicated by New York City Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern on August 21, 1996.{{Cite news|last=Broder|first=Mitch|date=12 Sep 1996|title=Get rolling|work=The Journal News|place=White Plains, New York}} Built with the help of teenagers from [[Harlem]] and the [[Upper West Side]], [[Riverside Skatepark]] became the city's first municipal park facility designed and constructed solely for skateboarders and [[rollerblade]]rs. One of the top five applications in the [[National Park Service]]'s "Innovation in Recreation" Grant Program, the project received a $50,000 [[Grant (money)|grant]], which was matched by the [[New York City Parks Department]], the City Parks Foundation, and local lumber, pipe and paint suppliers. Kessler supervised twenty Manhattan teenagers who, after participating in a workshop conducted by the [[Alternatives to Violence Project]], spent five weeks building Riverside Skate Park. The result is one of the most creative [[recreation]] facilities in New York City, which transformed an obsolete and disused playground, and provided thousands of city kids with a place of their own to skate.{{Cite web|last=Villager|first=The|date=2020-03-04|title=Community board approves naming Upper West skate park after skateboarding pioneer Andy Kessler|url=https://www.amny.com/manhattan/community-board-approves-naming-upper-west-skate-park-after-skateboarding-pioneer-andy-kessler/|access-date=2020-08-16|website=amNewYork|language=en-US}} |
Kessler headed up efforts to create a skatepark in Riverside Park, which was dedicated by New York City Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern on August 21, 1996.{{Cite news|last=Broder|first=Mitch|date=12 Sep 1996|title=Get rolling|work=The Journal News|place=White Plains, New York}} Built with the help of teenagers from [[Harlem]] and the [[Upper West Side]], [[Riverside Skatepark]] became the city's first municipal park facility designed and constructed solely for skateboarders and [[rollerblade]]rs. One of the top five applications in the [[National Park Service]]'s "Innovation in Recreation" Grant Program, the project received a $50,000 [[Grant (money)|grant]], which was matched by the [[New York City Parks Department]], the City Parks Foundation, and local lumber, pipe and paint suppliers. Kessler supervised twenty Manhattan teenagers who, after participating in a workshop conducted by the [[Alternatives to Violence Project]], spent five weeks building Riverside Skate Park. The result is one of the most creative [[recreation]] facilities in New York City, which transformed an obsolete and disused playground, and provided thousands of city kids with a place of their own to skate.{{Cite web|last=Villager|first=The|date=2020-03-04|title=Community board approves naming Upper West skate park after skateboarding pioneer Andy Kessler|url=https://www.amny.com/manhattan/community-board-approves-naming-upper-west-skate-park-after-skateboarding-pioneer-andy-kessler/|access-date=2020-08-16|website=amNewYork|language=en-US}} |
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In March 2020, Manhattan Community Board 7 approved the renaming of Riverside Park to Andy Kessler Skatepark.{{Cite web |last=Sider |first=West |date=2020-03-04 |title=Community Board 7 Approves Skate Park Naming After Local Skateboarding Pioneer Andy Kessler |url=https://www.westsiderag.com/2020/03/04/community-board-7-approves-stake-park-naming-after-local-skateboarding-pioneer-andy-kessler |access-date=2021-12-29 |website=westsiderag |language=en-US}} |
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=== Owl's Head Skate park === |
=== Owl's Head Skate park === |
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Opened in 2001 and designed by Kessler, [[Millennium Skate Park]] in [[Bay Ridge, Brooklyn]] was the first concrete skatepark built in Brooklyn.{{Cite web|url=http://www.whirlconstruction.net/blog/Top-5-NYC-Skate-Parks.htm|title=Top 5 NYC Skate Parks - Whirl Construction Blog|website=www.whirlconstruction.net|access-date=2019-10-30}} |
Opened in 2001 and designed by Kessler, [[Millennium Skate Park]] in [[Bay Ridge, Brooklyn]] was the first concrete skatepark built in Brooklyn.{{Cite web|url=http://www.whirlconstruction.net/blog/Top-5-NYC-Skate-Parks.htm|title=Top 5 NYC Skate Parks - Whirl Construction Blog|website=www.whirlconstruction.net|access-date=2019-10-30}} |
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