Along Frank Sinatra Drive near where 7th Street would be is the town of Hoboken's Castle Point Skate Park which is open all spring and summer.  It is free to use and riders are urged to wear protective gear, yet some people ride at their own risk.  As a "skate or die" type of skater back in my wonder years, I decided to check out the skate park this past Memorial Day weekend and met some of the skaters and even rode the half pipe myself, pulling off my first in 15 years rock n' roll on the micro pipe.

"I've been coming to the skate park for 8 years," says Ryan, 25 of Hackensack.  "Hoboken has the best of NJ's open-to-public skate parks.  Locally we have a park in Fort Lee, Union City and one in Sayerville, but Hoboken is the best and biggest of the four," added Ryan.  With the help of professional athletes like Tony Hawk, Rob Dyrdek and Matt Hoffman, skate parks are popping up all over the country at rapid paces.  What was once a "find a cool place and ride it and then get chased out by security or police" has risen into a multi-billion dollar industry filled with 1000's of yearly competitions, numerous TV shows and nationally sponsored televised events.  The IOC Olympic committee allows for the extreme sport of snowboarding to be an Olympic event and has held serious discussions about bringing in skateboarding in future games.  With viewership of "unpopular" Olympic sports like the Shot Put, High Jump, Discus and Javelin on the decline, the IOC would in my opinion be smart to bring something new and popular in to the thick of things.

Hoboken's skate park is comprised of a 7 foot tall half pipe, a 3' micro half pipe, (2) 7 foot tall quarter pipes, 2 boxes, 2 banks (ideal for old schoolers and their bags of tricks), 2 roll in points, several rails and steel cornered fixtures for rail slides and grinds. "I was on my morning jog this morning and found the skate park.  When I sent back to where I was staying I told my son about it and luckily he had his board with him and we've been enjoying the day here," said Aldo Zaninotto of Chicago, Illinois.  Aldo and son Alec are in town for a wedding.  Alec had with him an ORIGINAL BRAND longboard and was riding it like a pro in the micro half pipe.  "My son Alec got involved in skateboarding by routinely watching these long boarders from Original on You Tube one day and he was hooked.  We got him his 1st board recently and he is addicted,"  Alec told me. "I was so impressed with the skateboards Original made that I started sending owner of Original Skateboards, Brad Imbrie, emails on how much I love his stuff and how I love watching the videos."  Brad and Alec email each other on a daily basis and when new models of boards hit the market Brad makes sure Alec gets some 1st so Alec can demo them to his friends in Chicago.

The park is open to both local residents and  out-of-towners.  Paul Phillips, 24 of Parsippany says "in 2005 I had a bad accident here and drove my hand through a spike on a trick I tried to do and while it almost paralyzed my hand I am still out here and riding every day." Just after answering my question, Paul rolled into one of two 7' tall quarter pipes and did a 'Method Air' about 4 feet above the ramp with the greatest of ease.  "We're all here to have a good time and have fun," added Paul.  "Back in the day the police used to bust our chops if we didn't wear a helmet and that sort of scared people away but lately the cops haven't bothered us much," said Drew, 32, of Weehawken who has been coming to the skatepark for years.

Speaking for myself of course, I would urge all riders to be safe and wear protective gear.  On this day I did not wear any protective gear and while I finished my Rock N' Roll on the mini half pipe, as I rolled into the next trick the board came from under me and I landed hand and face first on the hardwood, causing me a bad scar and a bruised palm, both hurting like a mofo as I write my story 2 days later.  The park is usually open in the morning until dark and there is a bathroom on site as well.  Bring your own water or purchase snacks from a local vendor a 100 feet away.

Skate or Die Hoboken!!