Emerica’s Wild in the Streets 2008 took New York completely by storm. The meeting spot was the legendary Brooklyn Banks, where thousands of Young Emericans gathered at 1:00 p.m. for the first session of the day. Andrew Reynolds hit up the quarterpipe while Ben Gilley and a few other dudes demolished the handrail and throngs of kids enjoyed the fat flat rail. And, surprisingly, nary a cop was in sight. After a half hour, flyers with directions were tossed out to the hungry mob as the bullhorn beckoned us to take flight. The massive crowd quickly developed a hive mentality then swarmed out into the streets.
The sight of thousands of skateboarders roaring through the city utterly commands the attention of everyone: pedestrians, restaurant patrons, families, midgets, city workers, joggers, smoggers, and of course, all of the cops, robbers and drivers who are powerless to stop it. Vehicle traffic simply remains at a standstill until this massive organism passes on by. The feeling of being a part of it all is so overwhelming and exhilarating! It puts the biggest smile on your face, and you never want it to end. There is absolutely nothing else like Emerica's Wild in the Streets.
The second session went down in Chinatown at LES Skatepark, a rad flatground spot with a few objects set up. An unbelievably massive crowd milled around for a spell, then went nuts when Reynolds boosted a huge frontside flip over the fun box. There were so many kids, that clusters of them broke off at random times to head over to the third spot, Tompkins Square Park, in the East Village.
That was the first time (that I know of) when a few cops showed up and tried to contain the situation. As thousands of skateboarders milled about inside the Square--which is a fenced-in area--and on all four of the surrounding streets, the cops asked everyone to proceed inside. But, the skaters would have none of that. Of course, they simply spilled out into the streets again and made their way en masse down to the Brooklyn Bridge, gateway to KCDC, the fourth and final stop of the day.
The street in front of KCDC was the scene of a massive block party, complete with bands, DJs, free pizza in the Emerica tent--the whole works. Since the crowd was so swollen, Emerica employed a lottery system to keep the product toss safe. Only stickers were thrown, and those who received one with GSD (Go Skateboarding Day) written on it received their free goods from the back of the truck. After all the tunes, pizza and gear was gone, we finally called it a day. All of us here at Emerica would like to thank 5boro, KCDC, New York City and every single one of you who joined the Emerica team to make Wild in the Streets 2008 such a huge success.
(33) responses to: Wild in the Streets 2008 Report
damn, that shit looks tight
nyc is the best city in the world. idc where the fuck youre from. it was total meyhem. you had to be there to understand. it was fucking anarchy in the streets. skating through traffic in a massive army, skitching on to yellow cabs and having loads of people stop and watch and record bc the streets were gridlocked thanks to us. fucking ill. thanks emerica, five boro, and all the skaters that came out.
Damn i wish i lived in New York.
I was there it wasnt that great
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...0&id=570003223
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...c&id=570003223
reynolds and herman are boss!
This day was the most fun I had in a really long time. I can't wait till next year to hang out with some more Emericans!
i was there shit was gnarly skating da bridge was a bitch doe lol
today was amazingly epic dominant
It was sooo good i was the only Indian skater there i was so out in place i wish i had my camera cry soo godly heaven i didnt get a ticket and so i didnt get the toss CRY i was hoping to get some hsus lol i didnt see him by the way i Reyonds dam the boss lol it was a good day thought tomarrow is go skate year for my and every other skater lol ! I luv it sso much.. WIld in the streets 2009 in New YOrk Again lol !!!!!!
HOly shit!! out of control
was patrick there?
I just want to say thank you to jeff, reagen, and mark for helping me out with crashing on peeps floors and all their help!!! THANK YOU!!!
my name is Samuel, I am Brazilian, I liked the reportage, here in my country has no events so as skatista feel the lack of these types of events.
They forgot to mention the best part of the day, where dustin dollin showed up pissed drunk and jumped off the wild ride RV into a crowd of ghetto dudes..
I WAS THERE
I was there. Definitely the best day of skating in my life. not only was the vibe inspiring but meeting THE BOSS, herman, romero, long and a few others and finding out they were chill guys made me want to skate even harder.
Thank you Emerica.
i was up there!! woo
14th pic all th way 2 th rite
oh man
http://s2.excoboard.com/exco/index.php?boardid=26588
patrick was there so sick
i was in two pictures yes
nope im in three pictures yessss!
i wished i was there
i wished larry was there.
I wished Cory was there.
Damn they didnt get anything of Dollin jumping off the tour bus piss drunk. that shit was nuts man.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/skateborg/sets/72157605778023301/
photos from skateborg
haha i was in nyc but not anywere the team was
http://www.flickr.com/photos/damnedsafee/2601850497
International Day of skate, the atmosphere in Santiago Of Chile
dude i broke my toe first thing at the brooklyn banks that day and the product toss killed everyone but damn it was freakin awesome
to those bummed about the lack of dollin pics, i snapped a couple while he was being mobbed by autograph seekers... ill post a link when i get around to scanning them in
damn, shit was so fun!
nothing like it
i didn't stay for the product toss though cause they didn't do it until like 3 hours after i arrived at KCDC
paul rockermaner, you're fuckin gay
there where alot of ERRORS in this post.
the first and most ridiculous was the fact that WE DID NOT CROSS BROOKLYN BRIDGE WE CROSSED THE WILLIAMSBURG BRIDGE. AND GO SKATEBOARDING DAY SHOULDN'T BE ENDORSED BY ONE SINGLE COMPANY!, which I mean other companies flowed the events but Emerica shouldn't be solely held responsible
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