Elizabeth Balgar, Class IV
Photo credit: quartersnacks.com
In December of 2021, right before winter break, the NYPD came to remove some of the skating equipment from the skate park called Blue Park, aka Martinez Park on google maps. It was a place that brought people together, mostly skaters. “People come from all over to come skate in the park, even professional skateboarders. There was an event sponsored by RedBull that happened there,” said Musashi, a class II discipulus. There was a show about skating that was filmed temporarily there too. This was a well-known skatepark in the skateboarding world. However, to others, it was just a park.
So why would the NYPD remove some of the skating equipment? According to Jenkem, someone broke their foot-moving equipment, and there have been multiple complaints about skaters smoking near the school building. So the easy solution was to remove what was causing the problem–the skating equipment. But this removal was something that annoyed a lot of the skaters from our school, especially when the equipment meant so much to a lot of them. For some, it was why they learned to skate. For others, it was why they wanted to hone their skill.
“I made a lot of progress and fun memories with my friends when skating. Because of those memories, I came to love the park before the equipment was taken out,” class II discipula Iyatta said. “I haven’t visited the park since the equipment was taken out. It lost its appeal to me and I didn't really have a reason to go out there anymore. With the weather growing colder, hanging out there doesn’t interest me. I was very frustrated following the removal of the obstacles because I felt I couldn't make the same memories there that I made in my previous years.”
The skatepark was what made school so special for some of us. We were able to hang out there and do whatever we wanted. Some people skated on the equipment, while others sat and ate lunch there. But the skate park meant something to everyone –– it was a place of memories.
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