R.I.P.: Brooklyn Banks.

Without a doubt, as iconic of a spot as any. I first visited the banks in '91, while in NY to visit some schools.
I remember being just totally overwhelmed by the entire experience. Washington Square, getting 40's from any corner bodega, being wild in the streets. But more so, to skate such a spot and with total rippers, and not be in Cali. Being there felt like a rite of passage.
Back then, felt like there was such a focus on the west coast, EMB being this Mecca(a pilgrimage I would make a few years later myself) for skateboarders and ground zero for what skating was moving towards.
But there have always been such rippers on this side of the country, having to make due and compete with the shitty streets, the weather, cabbies, over-zealous security guards, etc. SHUT, ZOO YORK, SUPREME...born from these streets. And too many skaters to name.
Brooklyn Banks will be under construction until 2014. Whether they will be skateable once construction ends remains to be seen. Among the clips below, Edison, New Jersey native Mike Vallely makes a last trip back to his old haunt and tells it like he remembers.