For about a decade now, we’ve been coming to a basketball court at 2nd St and Virginia Ave NE in Washington D.C. to escape the sun, snow, rain, park police and more. I could write an entire article just on how this neighborhood has changed since we started skating flat on a basketball court under I-395. The dilapidated projects and crackheads have been replaced with million dollar row homes and families plucked fresh from the suburbs. The first several years (early 00s), we skated what was already there: good flat, a small gap, and a crusty ledge.

Once the city decided to put the new baseball stadium a mile away, they pushed the hood as far east as they could, and we started building our own stuff. Nothing that was built in those early years remains today. Most stuff would last a couple weeks and then be smashed to bits by the city, neighborhood psychos, or basketball players. Even the ten foot quarterpipe, which stuck around for several years eventually ended up as a pile of scrap wood, twisted metal, and tears. It was a glorious day when we took down a basketball hoop, backboard and pole to make room for a quarterpipe. I’m happy to report that the bigger ramps there today, and the bank to curb have stuck around for 2-3 years, and the city even classified the ramps as part of an “art space.” They even turned the lights back on, which we didn’t have for years. Lately, bridge spot has been pretty low-key outside of a homeless couple living under the bridge last year that tried to stab me and a few others.We may have gone from the murder capital to a city with only 78 of em in ”˜12, but we still have more than our fair share of whackos. The most recent spot we built is a rip-off of what Pontus Alv and his crew constructed last year under the bridge in Brooklyn. For two weeks in December, a few of us would meet up after work and mix concrete for a couple hours. We started skating it as soon as possible, so there’s still a day or two of work that needs to be done. A lot of people think this stuff is rocket science; it’s not. A few crucial tools and some practice is all it takes. It’s amazing how much you can learn just by watching someone pour concrete or lay brick on Youtube. Just make sure you’re not fucking anything up or getting in the way; if not, you may end up in that pile of rubble.
”“Smalls