The Lower East Side Skatepark ("L.E.S.") set a precedent for skatepark construction across the boroughs of New York City after it opened on Go Skateboarding Day 2012. Describing it as the "civic centre" of NYC's skate scene, journalist Ian Browning explored how it came to be and where skateparks sit within the ecosystem of New York's municipality, in a Quartersnacks story that coincided with the tenth anniversary of L.E.S. published in 2022. On our first Skate Bylines podcast, Ian shared how the story came together and we explored how New York's significance to skate culture grew exponentially over the past decade.

Hosted and edited by Farran Golding
Photography by Christian Kerr

Timestamps and show notes:

00:00 Welcome to Skate Bylines
00:46 Introduction to the episode
2:20 First visits to L.E.S. Skatepark
3:56 The opening and significance of L.E.S. Skatepark
5:24 The original incarnation of the L.E.S. Skatepark
6:45 What makes a good skatepark?
7:55 Interlude: Gangs of New York
8:24 History of the L.E.S. neighbourhood
9:40 Ian’s story and the differences between parks and spots
11:58 Learning etiquette through environment  
12:55 The geography of New York’s historic skateboarding hubs
15:00 New York’s increased significance
17:54 Park space in New York City
19:42 Communicating with the Parks Department
21:45 "A series of Hail Mary's"
22:11 Ian and Quartersnacks
23:26 Pitching the story
24:28 J. Jonah Jameson, pt. i
24:47 The editorial process
25:30 J. Jonah Jameson, pt. ii
25:43 Journalism school and skateboarding journalism
26:39 Finding the through line
29:57 Outro

The Civic Center of New York City Skateboarding with Ian Browning

In the midst of struggling to trying to write a novel about skateboarding the author Kyle Beachy decided simply to write about a person he admired: Andrew Reynolds. He saw Reynolds as someone who possessed an uncanny cultural presence with the ability to unify skateboarding opinion not only through respect but, importantly, the acknowledgement than no-one would argue the frontside flip is not Andrew Reynolds’ trick. However, in the wake of Emerica's 'Stay Gold', Beachy also saw Reynolds as as perfect model of an adult that a skateboarder could achieve. Adulthood being “A crisis that you also, if you persist long enough at this most fun thing, will have to confront,” writes Beachy in his essay, ‘A Very Large Puzzle: On Andrew Reynolds’. The piece published by Jenkem Magazine in 2012 would become a foundational text (and inform the title) of what became his second novel, 'The Most Fun Thing: Dispatches From A Skateboard Life'. Published in 2020 by Grand Central, the book is a collection of Beachy’s writings on skateboarding spanning throughout the 2010s. On today’s show, Beachy discusses writing that formative essay on Andrew Reynolds and who The Boss is today.

Hosted, edited and produced by Farran Golding

Timestamps and show notes:

00:00 Introduction to the episode and Kyle Beachy
1:27 Kyle’s history with Andrew Reynolds
2:10 Kyle’s studies, journalism, career and first novel
3:20 Kyle’s second novel and early skate articles
3:50 ‘A Very Large Puzzle: On Andrew Reynolds’
5:00 Interlude: Stella Reynolds
5:15 Sports Writing vs Skate Writing
6:45 Reynolds of the 2010s
7:26 Kyle’s History with Emerica
8:15 Stay Gold
9:08 Being moved by skateboarding
9:47 Skateboarding journalism in the early 2010s
11:12 Writing the Reynolds essay
12:36 Age and thoughtfulness
14:55 Heath Kirchart
17:05 'The Most Fun Thing'
20:37 Rooting for Reynolds
22:21 Revisiting Reynolds
24:43 Baker Has A Wholesomeness
26:02 'BHADW2' fundraiser
29:09 Outro

A Puzzle of Andrew Reynolds with Kyle Beachy

Tom Schaar told the world vert isn't dead in his new video part for Thrasher Magazine which calls for a discussion about the future of the discipline.

'Ranked & Filed' is a co-production that brings you the headline story from Simple Magic's 'Simply Ranked' newsletter in audio form, courtesy of Skate Bylines. This episode is written and read by Cole Nowicki, edited by Farran and features Tom Schaar's 'Vert's Not Dead' video part and 'Video Parts, 1080s and the Olympics by Chris Gregson for Thrasher Magazine.

Simply Ranked • The best of what's left (25/04/2025): https://www.simplemagic.ca/the-best-of-whats-left/

Thrasher Magazine • Tom Schaar — 'Vert's Not Dead': https://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/videos/tom-schaar-s-verts-not-dead-part/

Thrasher Magazine • Tom Schaar — 'Video Parts, 1080s and the Olympics': https://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/videos/tom-schaar-video-parts-1080-s-and-the-olympics/

Tom Schaar: The best of what's left • Ranked & Filed

Tyshawn Jones is suing Supreme to the tune of a million dollars (and then some). Cole Nowicki reports on the details of an unprecedented case around a generational talent.

'Ranked & Filed' is a co-production that brings you the headline story from Simple Magic's 'Simply Ranked' newsletter in audio form, courtesy of Skate Bylines.

This episode is written and read by Cole Nowicki and edited by Farran Golding.

Simply Ranked • 'Impunity in the name of commercial gain' (16/05/2025):
https://www.simplemagic.ca/all-this-for-some-shoes/

Courthouse drop: Tyshawn Jones sues Supreme • Ranked & Filed

"What if, I mean to say, Greg Hunt succeeded?" asks the author Kyle Beachy. "Suppose Hunt managed to make a movie that conveyed Dylan Rieder as he was. Suppose that, by knowing his friend so well, and going out shooting with him and editing that footage and presenting it as he did, Hunt achieved that most impossible thing—gave us a way of knowing another person without ever meeting him. Suppose he successfully captured style, and suppose that style was, as Cocteau had it, his soul."

In a heartfelt essay on the life and legacy of Dylan Rieder, Kyle Beachy looks at style, skateboarding and how skateboarders get to know those they spend so much time watching and admiring from a distance.

Edited and produced by Farran Golding

A version of this story was originally published as ‘The Dylan Period’ (2020) excerpted from the book The Most Fun Thing: Dispatches From A Skateboard Life (© 2021 by Kyle Beachy), reprinted with permission of Grand Central Publishing, all rights reserved

Portrait of Dylan Rieder by Anthony Acosta. Read the written version of this story which features Acosta's archives of Rieder at https://skatebylines.com/2025/05/26/dylan-rieder-style-was-his-soul/

Timestamps:

00:00 — Introduction
1:51 — I: Above and Beneath the Rest
10:15 — II: Signature
15:20 — III: Essence
20:43 — IV: Better Days
28:00 — V: A League of His Own
36:15 — VI: Style Was His Soul
42:26 — VII: Time Does Not Heal All Wounds

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