While the exact date and year when the Brooklyn Banks were skated for the first time remains controversial, it is safe to say that, once discovered, they instantly became an anchor of NYC skateboarding culture. The Banks are more than red bricks in a wave pattern under a bridge, and they were not made to be a playground for creative motion artists reinterpreting its purpose in ways that would impact the entire world. Skateboarding is full of architectural landmarks all over the world that, as a culture, we unofficially adopt.
The Brooklyn Banks on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge have become one of skateboarding’s world wonders and a dedicated society of skateboarding activists and preservationists have made this iconic location a permanent stamp on the global passport of iconic skate destinations.
Throughout the years this spot has been a proverbial proving ground not only for what you could do on your board, but how you could hang within the nuances of its constant evolving cultural narrative. It was and continues to be a tight-knit group that holds down the banks, all of whom influence through the vibe what goes down on those bricks.
So many different walks of life and subcultures found their way to the Banks becoming a melting pot full of creativity and excitement. It could be argued that Supreme, Triple 5 Soul, Rookie, 5Boro, Zoo York, Shut Skates, FA Entertainment, X Large, Dead End, Brooklyn Boards, and more became what they did in some part because of the Banks.
The Brooklyn Banks hold a special place in this writer’s journey as it was the place where I would begin working at Juice Magazine 28 years ago. The vibe at the Banks has not changed much since my stint there in the mid 90’s. It is still gritty, sketchy, and ominous, which makes you skate all out just to get that feeling of landing on those banks with the sound of your wheels mimicking the sound of a crowd cheering in a stadium. It is a New York City skate vibe where you’re skating for fun and self satisfaction. It’s cathartic and palpable in all the best ways.
Red Bull has been doing the Origin series, from West Coast to East Coast, paying homage to original spots with skate contests that feel more like family reunions than just ‘cash for tricks’. At the Brooklyn Banks, they gave a tasteful nod to the legacy of NY skateboarding by enlisting NYC OG Harry Jumonji to design the Origin logo, and, on the subway car creation, Andy Kessler and Harold Hunter were represented in graffiti, which inspired the sessions even more.
Shout out to the Harold Hunter Foundation, Gotham Park NYC, and The Skatepark Foundation, and the countless other advocates for fighting to keep the Brooklyn Banks alive and thriving in order for future generations to leave their mark on the history of NYC skateboarding. – Words by Juice Dan Levy
“The Brooklyn Banks are so important to skateboarding because they are skateboarding. This is a place that’s so relevant to the evolution, to the history, to the future of skateboarding. It’s just so important to our culture.”
– STEVE RODRIGUEZ
“Best trick I’ve done here? I guess the nollie back heel over the wall because it was such a Hail Mary of a trick too. I was stoked. That bank was not easy to pop off and then one just happened and I was like, “Oh! Better take it!” That was a good time. That trip was really fun too. I was here for a couple weeks skating and it was so much fun.”
– ERIC KOSTON
“The Brooklyn Banks are so important to skateboarding because it’s the first skatepark we ever had. The Brooklyn Banks was our first skatepark. The Banks will always be the official landing ground for everyone.”
– ALEX CORPORAN
“What’s my favorite trick I’ve ever done here? It’s either the switch heelflip on the big banks or the front board on the 9, but I kinda like the switch heel too. I guess front board because I didn’t want to do it, but Muska was skating with me and Muska was doing everything on it. It was such a weird day. I had no intentions of doing it and then I did it and I was super stoked that I did it.”
– JAIME REYES
“The Brooklyn Banks are important
– JEFFERSON PANG
to skateboarding because
New York City is the capital of the world
and the capital of skateboarding in
New York City is the Brooklyn Banks.”
“It’s a centerpiece of our culture,
– EVAN SMITH
the history is huge. Growing up in Florida, I always knew it was here. It was a destination. Me and my friends got to travel all the way up the coast just to come here, and then Steve Rodriguez was here. Then my homie got on 5Boro and I got on Listen. This place, literally, with the history, makes skateboarding continue, and that’s the goal.”
“This was the first spot I ever saw New York City skateboarding. I watched the “Future Primitive” video, when they’re skating here and whenever I thought of New York City skateboarding, I thought of this spot, To be here 30-something years later, it’s history in the making. We are still making history. That’s what’s up.”
– R.B. UMALI
“Best trick I ever did here? I front blunted that handrail and I didn’t film it. I got a photo sequence of it for a Four Star ad. I broke five boards and I had my car parked in a parking lot nearby. I think I broke three boards one day and came back and did it the next. Mike O’Meally shot the sequence. I think that’s the best thing I ever did here.”
– BRIAN ANDERSON
“Why are the Brooklyn Banks so important to skateboarding? It’s because they’ve been a major part of developing street skateboarding since the ‘80s. They’re legendary. Some of the most legendary clips have come from Brooklyn Banks, from the 10-stair to the banks themselves to the other 10 to the other banks to the bump over into the freeway. It’s got spots for days.”
– PAUL RODRIGUEZ
“The Brooklyn Banks are important to skateboarding because it’s just a place where people to come together and skate. It really is a great community spot.”
– ATIBA JEFFERSON
“Why do I think the Brooklyn Banks are so important to skateboarding? Because it’s something that was not created for skateboarding that skateboarders adapted as their own and rip on their own and I think that’s really special.”
– JAGGER EATON
“Why are the Brooklyn Banks so important? “It’s a very iconic spot. I think people started skating here in the ‘70s and, in the ‘80s, it just took off. In the ‘90s, when I moved here, it was an epic spot. This was just natural architecture that we skated and that’s why it was very important to us. For them to bring it back, it’s even more awesome.”
– JAIME REYES
“I don’t have a bag of tricks that I’ve done here. It’s all about carving, just catching a wave.”
– SAM SMYTH
“It’s the number one New York City spot. It’s the Brooklyn Banks. You can’t get any better than this. It’s classic. My favorite trick that I’ve done here has got to be my big spin down the 9. My second favorite is my nollie 180 heel flip over the wall. My third favorite is recent. I did a nollie lazer heelflip and I did it right there on that bank.”
– MIKE WRIGHT
“Why do I think the Brooklyn Banks are so important to skateboarding? It’s important to different people for different reasons. For me, I grew up in New Jersey super close and it was one of the first places I saw real raw street skating in person. I was blown away by some of the locals back then. It was the late ‘80s and it was the OG Shut crew. One of the other reasons it’s important is that it’s in one of the greatest cities in the world, New York City. Every city has that mecca spot, as far as skateboarding goes. In New York City, it’s the Brooklyn Banks by far.”
– TIM O’CONNOR
“What’s my favorite trick I’ve done here? Honestly, back smith board break. That’s the first time I skated that rail, and the board slide on the Shut board. I was really hyped on that.”
– TREVEON WADE
“The Brooklyn Banks are important to me because I was skating here from 1985 to 1990 and I was sponsored by CS Skates in Brooklyn and I’d always come here and meet people, all of the Zoo York guys and the Shut guys, so it has a special place in my heart. You come to New York. It’s world famous. You’re a skater, you come here. This is what we had for parks back then. We had the Brooklyn Banks. It’s a special place. I’m glad they redid it and got it back to shape and that they can have events like this.”
– JOE RUSSO
“It’s the mecca. We didn’t have a lot of ramps or mini ramps growing up on the East Coast, so this was our transition spot, our banks spot, our curb spot and it’s central to get to, right in the middle of downtown, the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge. The scene is cool and the skaters always feed off each other. It’s one of the most legendary skate spots in the world for a very good reason.”
– CHRIS “DUNE” PASTRAS
“Best trick I ever did here? I didn’t do shit, but the first trick I ever did here, I was with Eddie “El Gato” Elguera. We were on tour, my very first tour. It was Brian Lotti, and Eddie and his wife and their two kids, who were probably three years old and we were in a Winnebago. I was trying to crail slide, just in the middle of the banks. I think about it now and I get all weird and embarrassed, not embarrassed, but I was still learning how to skate. I was just a little kid doing little kid shit. I thought I was all sponsored at the time. The only thing I remember is a kickflip. I think I frontside kickflipped it. Eric was the one that that got a trick out of our crew, the backside heel flip. No one else got anything. We were out here for like three weeks. Eric was the only one and he got that over the wall.”
– MIKE CARROLL
“There is no skate spot like it with this long of a tenure of so many different generations and eras in skateboarding, from the ‘80s to now. It was dormant for a little bit, and we thought it was dead, and now it’s back and it’s pretty sick. I remember one of my early times coming to New York for a Brooklyn Banks contest and it was just rogue and packed with people, and it was chaos. That was ’93. It was so sick. Still trying to keep this going.”
– ERIC KOSTON
“Why the Brooklyn Banks are important to skateboarding is a difficult question because there is so much that has gone down here. It’s about where things are created and where things happen first and where culture is established. I drove my van here when I graduated high school in ’81 and I didn’t understand what I was getting into. I’d never been to the city before and it was so raw compared to my suburban neighborhood in Tampa, Florida. Coming here and experiencing the city, it culturally reemphasized why I was a skateboarder, then and now.”
– RYAN CLEMENTS
“I think as far as skateboarding in New York City goes, this place is a miracle. It’s like a Stonehenge, just in size and scope of skateboarding, especially in New York, because everything is so clustered together and cramped. The fact that this even existed when I first found it in the early ‘80s, there used to be nobody down here. It’s such a vacuous large space, like something the Egyptians would have built. It was made randomly, and skaters being skaters were smart enough to co-opt it for the greatest sport in the world.”
– ELI MORGAN GESNER
“Shut Skateboards is the roots of New York City skateboarding. It all traces back to Shut and what Rodney and Bruno did with the rest of the Shut family back in the ’80s. Some of the best skaters in the world were on the Shut team at the time. It’s the stuff of legend, but it’s also true.”
– ADAM SCHATZ
“Koston came and pioneered things here, and Harold Hunter, just a few names. From the first 411 videos, early ‘90s classics, all the way to the 2000s, it is iconic. Nowhere else have I ever seen half a mile of brick banks that are just rolling, cascading hills. It’s unreal. It’s skate history and they re-made it for us. Come on. Let’s tap in.”
– JAKE WOOTEN
“Why do I think the Brooklyn Banks are so important to skateboarding? It’s just an iconic spot. Every city, I shouldn’t say every city, but a lot of cities have their West LA Courthouse, LOVE Park or EMB, and New York has this. It’s kinda synonymous. When you hear about New York skateboarding, you’re going to hear about the Brooklyn Banks.”
– CHRIS ROBERTS
“Why are the Brooklyn Banks so important to me? Friendship. It’s a place I started coming to in high school. Growing up in New Jersey, aside from Union Square, this was the meet up spot, before cell phones, before pagers, before all that technology. The technology was the spot. That’s what brought us together.”
– MIKE COHEN
“This is what street skateboarding is all about. You’ve got the banks and the rails and everything over the wall when they had it. It’s a landmark of skateboarding when you come to New York City. It’s the best. It’s dope.”
– BRANDON TURNER
RED BULL PRESS RELEASE:
Jake Wooten and Niko Sugimoto Claim Top Honors at Red Bull Origin in New York City
Skateboarding’s Past, Present and Future Converged at the Brooklyn Banks, One of the World’s Most Influential Skate Spots
NEW YORK, NY (Sept. 19, 2026) – Red Bull Origin, a challenge-based street competition celebrating the cities, spots and communities that shaped skateboarding, brought generations of skateboarders to New York City’s iconic Brooklyn Banks. Jake Wooten and Niko Sugimoto claimed Best Overall honors following a full day of skate sessions that highlighted the landmark’s lasting influence.
The free, single-day event featured pioneers, icons and rising stars on the same brick banks that helped shape modern street skateboarding. A steady crowd packed the historic space beneath the Brooklyn Bridge as skateboarders competed across three competition zones, opening at the 10 Stair, moving to a recreated subway car and culminating at the 13 Stair.
For Wooten, the win capped his first trip to New York City and skating debut at one of the most influential spots in street skateboarding. “To win at such a historic location, with the legacy of some of the greatest skaters to ever do it, is pretty crazy,” said Wooten. “My mentality was just to have fun and make the most of every moment. I tried some things outside my comfort zone to get everybody fired up, and it thankfully worked out in my favor today.”
Niko Sugimoto also made the most of her first visit to New York City, taking home the women’s Best Overall title along with the 13 Stair win. “This was my first time in New York and my first time skating the Banks, so everything was new to me,” said Sugimoto. “The spots were honestly pretty scary, but I just tried to commit and stick to the tricks I felt confident in.”
RESULTS
Men
- Best Overall: Jake Wooten
- 13 Stair: Trevon Wade
- Subway Car: Jake Wooten
- 10 Stair: Antonio Durao
Women
- Best Overall: Niko Sugimoto
- 13 Stair: Niko Sugimoto
- Subway Car: Daniela Terol
- 10 Stair: Sofie Valle Mørk
Beyond the competition, Red Bull Origin celebrated the Brooklyn Banks’ longstanding role as one of skateboarding’s most influential proving grounds and gathering places. For more than four decades, generations of New York City skateboarders have turned its brick banks and surrounding architecture into some of the most recognizable terrain in skateboarding. That history was on display throughout the day, with New York pioneers, established pros and rising talent all skating together.
“There are so many key moments that have happened here, from the ESA contests in the ’80s, to the contests in the ’90s, to Back to the Banks, and then all of a sudden it was shuttered,” said NYC skateboarding legend and longtime Brooklyn Banks fixture Jeff Pang. “There have been significant events here since the Banks reopened, but to see the group of skaters here today, from the new generation making an impact on skateboarding to the legends who skated the Banks back in the day, all come together is something that hasn’t happened yet. To me, this is another notable moment in the history of the Banks.”
That history is also tied to the years of work that helped preserve and reopen the Brooklyn Banks. Red Bull Origin was held in partnership with The Skatepark Project, Gotham Park and the Harold Hunter Foundation, organizations that worked with city officials to reopen the site and restore an important piece of skate history.
“Red Bull has been supporting skateboarding in New York City for as long as I can remember, so to see them come in and put on an event of this caliber means a lot,” said General Manager, XC New York and longtime Brooklyn Banks advocate Steve Rodriguez. “For the New York skate scene, it shows support for what’s happening here, the return of the Brooklyn Banks and the start of a new era for the spot.”
“It means so much to see the Brooklyn Banks back and full of life again,” said NYC skateboarding pioneer Jaime Reyes. “This spot has such an important place in skateboarding, and to see the next generation skating here at such a high level is really special.”
For highlights and more from Red Bull Origin, follow @redbullskate, @redbullusa and visit the official event website.
ABOUT RED BULL ORIGIN
Red Bull Origin is a challenge-based skateboarding event that unites generations of skaters to celebrate the cities that shaped street skateboarding’s global culture. The event reimagines iconic skate spots, rebuilding historic obstacles to test today’s top talent on legendary terrain. Featuring pioneers, icons, and rising stars, Red Bull Origin honors skateboarding’s legacy while empowering the next generation to carry it forward.
Jake Wooten frontside bluntslides across the gap at Red Bull Origin in New York, NY on September 19th, 2026. // Jonathan Mehring / Red Bull Content Pool
