North Hempstead moves closer to skateboard park
Julian Laker skateboards on a homemade ramp in the driveway of his Port Washington home. (May 17, 2010) Credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara
For more than a decade, parents of skateboarders have been pressuring the Town of North Hempstead to build a park for their children to safely enjoy the hobby.
The effort was renewed in 2008, when a group of Port Washington residents formed Skateboarders Need a Park in Port.
Last night, the town board took one of the first steps toward building North Hempstead's first skateboard park, planned for Manorhaven. The board voted 7 to 0 to issue a request for qualifications for the future park's designer.
"I'm really excited," said Will Long, 16, of Port Washington. "We don't really have a place to skate. We just get busted for skating on sidewalks. They kick us out."
Nassau police Det. Lt. Kevin Smith said skateboarding is allowed, except in places prohibited through county or town ordinances. "The biggest problem is that some of these skateboarders use property to do tricks," Smith said, causing damage to stairs, benches and railings.
Robert Laker, 46, who is the pro-skate park group's co-director, built a mini-skateboard park behind his Port Washington home to give his son and friends a place to skate. But neighbors have complained, he said.
Last month, a community meeting was held where town Supervisor Jon Kaiman and Councilman Fred Pollack pledged support of finally building a skateboard park.
Laker credits a group of children and teens who handed out fliers at the train station before school and went door-to-door on weekends or stood outside stores collecting more than 1,000 signatures on a petition.
Last week, a group of about 20 skateboarders ranging from 13 to 22 years old met at Laker's home for a park design meeting, where they discussed what they want to see in a park. They hope the town will consider their ideas.
Long, who has been skateboarding for about four years, said he's happy to have a place to skate, and it doesn't matter to him what the future park offers.
"I don't even care. As long as we have a place to go," he said. "Anything that's concrete."
Laker's son, Julian, 14, said he wants to see "a lot of street elements" such as stairs and rails. He'd like the park to include a bowl, which he explained, "it's almost like a pool emptied out that you can ride in."
Where to skate
Skate board parks on Long Island:
- Amagansett Youth Park
- Baldwin Skate Park
- Eugene Nickerson Beach Skate Park in Lido Beach
- Huntington Skate Park
- Inline1 Extreme Skatepark in Mount Sinai
- Montauk Skate Park
- Red Creek Skate Park in Hampton Bays
- Town of Riverhead Skate Park
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