Bluejake

I admit that after two years, it is becoming harder to find new skate routes. Often, I'll leave the house, and without thinking about it, find myself drifting toward the Williamsburg Bridge, and over it to Brooklyn and then up into Queens. Yesterday, I made it all the way to Bedford and North 5th before I thought about where I was going, and I wouldn't have even thought about it then if I hadn't run into an old friend of mine on the street. We started talking about the neighborhood, and it occured to me that it had been a couple of years since I had really explored the waterfront. So instead of heading up Bedford to Manhattan Avenue, I took a left towards Kent, and traced along the waterfront until I reached the Pulaski Bridge.

The warehouses down on Kent and West were amazing- hulking, rotten buildings on completely silent and abandoned streets. I took some pictures and hiked out on to the piers- the only people out there were some old Russian women. On the other side of the Pulaski I skated up to Gantry State Park, where everyone was out enjoying the sun. The park is a beautiful place with an amazing view of Manhattan and the skyline, and right across the river from the United Nations. After a few minutes of people watching I explored up the waterfront as far as the Queensboro Bridge, and then cut back to Manhattan for the sunset over the West Side. It seemed like thousands of people were out in the new west side park- skating along the piers, lying in the grass, and just generally taking in the summer. I would have waited for the sun to set, but I was late for dinner and I wanted to get a lemon/cherry ice at Famous Ben's Pizza on Spring, so I took one last look and then skated towards home.

Skating