NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — If you can catch eight-year-old Zaire John before he rolls out to try another trick, he’ll tell you his favorite thing about skateboarding is jumping and swerving on his board. The youngster had only been skating a handful of times before coming to the Uptown Showdown Throwdown on Sunday, a community skateboard event in Washington Heights, but showed no fear in the face of trying new things.
“Everyone is so nice and patient,” John’s mom, Kiesha Boykin, said. “It means a lot to have people that look like me teaching my kids to skate.”
John was one of dozens of young people who came out to learn to skate as part of the Uptown Showdown Throwdown, which brought together new and experienced skaters for a day of shredding and contests. Lessons were given by Skate Everything School, an organization started by professional longboarder O’Neal Ellerbe, a Harlem native, and his wife Aimee Simeon.
“O'Neal said he wanted to show people about different skate disciplines,” Simeon said. “And I'm like I want to show people that you're a young black man, you are not a criminal, you are not a delinquent. You're doing something that you love. It's a form of exercise, it's a form of expression. And with that Skate Everything School was born.”
The swarm of skaters at J. Hood Wright Park for the community event is a far cry from the uptown skate scene of 16 years ago when Joel Popoteur, the event’s organizer, first got into the sport.
“When we started skating, all we had was us. There were no shops or anybody to facilitate what we were doing,” said Popoteur. “We wanted to create one for ourselves.”
In the early days of Popoteur’s skate career, he and the few other uptown skaters would have to trek downtown or to Brooklyn to go to contests or even have the chance to skate on proper obstacles in parks. Eventually they decided to carve their own space in the scene with modest contests where the only prize was bragging rights.
In the years since that very first contest, Popoteur, along with other longtime fellow skaters, have hosted several other events for the community, only growing bigger and more organized each time.
“Unless you see something done you don’t think it’s possible,” Popoteur explained. “Me and my friends were these kids 20 years ago. If they see us giving back they know it’s attainable. They can come talk to us and interact with us and hopefully be put on a path that is righteous and do things bigger than what we started.”
The Uptown Showdown Throwdown is the latest of the skate crew’s functions, this time partnering with Dominguez Corporation and major skate companies to pull it off. In between a free meal of chop cheeses and a spelling bee for prizes, established skateboarders from the community reflected on what it meant to hold space for the next generation.
“When we were younger, no one came uptown to do something like this,” said Bryan Espinal, a 32-year-old who's been skating in the neighborhood for nearly two decades and helped put the event together. “We want to show the kids that they should care about something, keep them involved in something productive and just remind them that they’re supported.”
That goal was even more present last year when Popoteur and his group organized a skate meet in honor of Gerardo Rivas, a 17-year-old skateboarder who was stabbed to death near his Washington Heights home. The event allowed the skate community to collectively mourn their late friend but also strengthen their ties to the sport and each other.
“Gerardo’s death shook us all,” Espinal said. “Through the skate event, we were able to grieve together but also celebrate his life and love for skating.”
Rivas’ spirit was represented at the Uptown Throwdown Showdown with memories of the ambitious teen shared amongst friends and a sweatshirt painted with his likeness hanging on a gate at the park. Popoteur hopes to make the gathering a yearly occurrence in remembrance of Rivas and use it as a means to uplift the neighborhood and its youngest residents, a goal shared by others in the field.
“I feel like you do not see enough people of color thriving and respected and uplifted in skateboarding,” Simeon added.
The second half of the event brought veteran skaters, even some pros, to the field. Younger kids looked on as seasoned athletes flipped their boards over obstacles or glided down ramps, built especially for the neighborhood park, with ease.
The part of the day many attendees were most looking forward to, however, was the chance to snag some free products– everything from complete board setups to sneakers.
“The product toss is an important part of every skate contest," Espinal said. “Who doesn’t love free stuff?”
Normally, participants have to land a trick to win a prize at a skate contest but at the Uptown Throwdown Showdown, Popoteur and Espinal mixed it up with a spelling bee competition.
“Skateboarding contests are always about jumping off the highest set of stairs or doing something gnarly,” Espinal said. “We wanted to show that our contests are about inclusivity. As long as you’re trying, you’re earning your respect. Anyone can join the spelling bee for a chance to win a prize. We just wanted to make sure everyone was included– from the most experienced skater to the kid who just picked up a board.”
The event concluded with a “hill bomb” in honor of Rivas, a tradition started last year where the skateboarders collectively take to the streets to ride down a hill on 181st Street. The roaring of their boards on the concrete marked the group’s continued, growing presence in the neighborhood while also serving as a reminder of the strong bonds amongst the skaters.
“It was an excellent event,” Boykin said while wrapping up the day with her sons. “They were teaching my kids how to skate and teaching them other things besides skating. It was like a community here today.”
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