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Sometimes the best places in the city are the ones that were never planned to occur.

If you haven't been here, or seen how crazy it gets when Back to the Banks is on, then you never knew what New York skate culture was all about. This is probably one of the most badass places to skate, ride and eat it. It has the perfect curves, vistas and avenues for skateboarding, but notably, this place has also been a bmx, fixie and scooter (yes, scooter) hub too. Steep curves? Lots of open space? Damn. This underground-but-not-so-underground place is located under the Brooklyn Bridge next to the police station, Manhattan side. The Banks are unlike any other urban space, and without much warning, it's become a prized and cherished place to do pull off mean tricks. All you have to do is pick your poison. It's amazing when its filled full with riders, and more amazing that skateboarders will find places like these to get what they can out of New York's concrete jungle.

On the Back to the Banks Days, this is what it's like. I was here, 2008.

The area lies in the interstitial space between the the on and off ramps along the bridge, where the cars set a backdrop to all the insane action happening below. It's a place to socialize, to gather, and to practice. The Banks come with their own raised seating too -- the concrete dividers. On the big days you sit there with cars zipping by you, and you're at the very back because thousands of people are crowded in front, watching the same guys do the same tricks. Or you're down in front, watching people bomb the steep curves. Or you're on the upper level, watching guys below ride the rails. So many options, don't you think? The collective spirit here is incredible, I can tell you that.

Unfortunately it's been under construction since earlier this year, and while the Department of Transportation (DOT) cites that the Brooklyn Bridge is in need of "urgent rehabilitation," I can only worry about what this space is going to look like after their done. They will be painting. All of it. What about the long lived graffiti? All the small additions to this place over the years will be wiped out, and that beloved gritty feel won't exist anymore. 

The grey areas indicate where the "staging" will occur. A red portion has been highlighted by Steve at 5Boro, where he hopes the DOT will allow that area to remain open and unchanged while construction occurs in the residing parts. Construction will go until 2014. Full article here.

I'm sure it won't be long until the Banks get back to their old shape after construction is done, but there is something about being able to feel and see the layers of history in this one place that cannot be replicated or renewed in any other way. People may hate graffiti and scoff at it as "street art" but its these uncomplicated, earnest pieces of expression that give voice to a whole other face of the city. Through these tags, however amazing or ugly they are, one can begin to understand a voice of a generation that cannot be represented in any other way. It's raw, and it's real.

When this place is empty during the winter, you can still feel that energy that rises during the peak times in the summer. The residual matter of stickers, rails, pipes, ramps and broken boards are visual indicators of a culture that exists throughout New York City, and the Banks set an example where raw, unplanned urban spaces can be re-purposed into magical keys to understand how an urban city on this scale has accommodated street riders alike. Architects can't plan for all the possibilities of how a space will be used, and we certainly can't predict how an uprising in street culture will affect public spaces. How does that make our job as architects any easier? It doesn't, but it sure makes it exciting. We can't account for every single possible perspective when you plan a community (although we can try), and we can't foresee how all the interstitial spaces will be used either. I think this breathing room gives us an opportunity as a city to grow...to self-experiment, rather than live in a highly designed place. Le Corbusier's La Ville Radieuse, for example, is so highly designed it begs for mono-culture. Sterile, clean, efficient. Our cities certainly aren't perfect, and I think that's where the beauty lies. New York, although multifarious in buildings and culture, has very little open space to experiment with, and I think that's why the Banks are so special and successful as a space.

At the bottom line I believe that it's successful places like this that almost defy logic or reason, that make cities so vibrant and alive. Don't you remember as a kid, how you would just find ways to do what you wanted? Where you would build your own ramps because there wasn't a skate park near your house, or make riding a bike as dangerous (and exhilarating) as possible by putting plywood over rollers, etc etc. Maybe some of you didn't do this. Maybe you did, but to greater extremes. Either way, all these things we did as kids, we can still do as adults. We will find those spaces the suit our needs, and we will learn how to fill our lives with those necessities. It's in our inherent nature to adapt and survive, and at the Brooklyn Banks, it's never been better. Here, there are no rules. It just is.

Images via web. Brooklyn Banks, New York City.