5.19.2013

chrome ball incident #900: anybody in the audience ever get hit by a car?










































































A few glimpses at an East Coast Institution.

Casting the brightest of glare decades-long from the seediest of underbellies, the Brooklyn Banks truly had it all. A testament to the resourcefulness of skateboarders when they can just be left the fuck alone. Sacred ground, its influence and significance can never be overstated.

I honestly can't begin to explain how much I appreciate all the support that Chrome Ball has received over the course of these last 900 posts. The things that doing this blog in my spare time has led to is truly unbelievable and humbling. To everyone that has sent me emails, posted a link, left a comment, suffered through one of my long-ass interviews or hooked me up with whatever...thank you.

CBI will be back on Thursday.

My work here is almost done...

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

you hit it out of the park with this one. thanks again.

Royce said...

Goodness. The gun. The Philly/ Javier experience on the Wall is gem. 1up forever.

Anonymous said...

"My work here is almost done..." Hope you're not referring to posting

stephen said...

Don't leave!!!

Lari said...

So much history at the banks. Went there in 2006. It was a lot rougher than i expected but still pretty sick.

Anonymous said...

dude, i'm surprised you haven't been picked up by Thrasher or another mag...just curious, what is it you do for a living Chops?

pagoda said...

Hopefully it lasts to 1000 at least. The Olson picture got me hyped the most. Thanks Chops.

Brendan said...

Nice to see Justin Pierce up there,too cool.
You gotta make it to 1000,that's a nice round number,right?
A D Castillo post has to be done,yet,anyway ; )


3/4 Life said...

I love it when I see a pic of Hamilton Harris. style. awesome post.

crabface64 said...

Worried by the "My work here is almost done..." this blog keeps me going.

Unknown said...

It will be a sad day when you make your final post. However I read an interview where you said you had something special already planned so Im curious as to what it could be.

This is the first in depth history book of sorts to be written about skateboarding which I completely appreciate. You're educating the the up and coming generation of skateboarders and injecting a sense of style and personality when its need most. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Wow I hadn't seen that Fred Gall cover since back then, and I remember being so fascinated by it. Thanks for the glimpse into my youth and all the fucking stoke. Killing it man
-matt stahlman

JHA said...

hope your monty nolder post will pop up soon..

ODG said...

A few glimpses?? Bloody hell man, this is epic..

Anonymous said...

That first Jahmal Williams pic is a perfect time capsule of what skateboarding was then. Perfect.

Also, for some reason always get hyped to see that pic of jock-ass, Sand Diego Danny Way putting it down in grimy NYC. Always impressed me.

eric l said...

I don't get the De La Soul reference.

Dustin Umberger said...

great picks chops. good title, too. i never got to skate it but it was always a fantasy spot, the best hang out meet up anything goes type of spot. apparently doing alley-oop tricks across the tree gap was no joke.

stephen said...

That high times cover takes he cake tho! I bet Ryan hickey was stoked on that. Haha. I don't even smoke weed and I think that shit is hilarious.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Epic mega post! A lot to take in here. The pants on the first Jahmal pic, The mongo kid behind Sheffey, Rick Howard crail, every Harold Hunter pic, it's all so good.

Congrats on 900! Pretty amazing. Thank you for everything!

@brendan Maybe Daniel Castillo will be post #1000. An anti-epic one ad post to end it all.

White Ninja said...

proud of you for hanging in there chops..... I dont like sending a fax. never mind the thousands of scans and countless hours you have put in for us...

Gotta give it up for you...

Thank you just isn't enough

Bad News Dirsa said...

I'll second the excellence of that Sub Zero crew flick.
Many thanks for everything!

SameOne said...

DAMN! ou just killed it!

this might bw your best publication ever!

Keith said...

Epic post Eric! Nicely done. So many great shots. If the banks was made of concrete rather than bricks, it wouldn't look as aesthetically good for skating. By the time they finish all the construction at the Banks, I'll be pushing 40. Never got to skate it yet.

The Keenan one looks bananas. His front foot is so high and his back one looks like it's kicking down pretty hard. Wonder what trick that is.

Welsh's switch 360 flip. So amazing.

Really like the Alvarez night time switch flip and the Jamal atm one.

The title of the post has to do with the opening line of Maurice Keys part in Trilogy.

For those that don't know, our humble host and blog author has parlayed chromeball into a gig in the industry. Kudos to him.

Anonymous said...

impressive post! thanks for sharing history for so many. the last one of the gonz is just beautiful. it's now my wallpaper for my iphone :)

dflip said...

No Thank You!

I too, have wondered about this character named Chops. What he does for work, his favorite skate spot, why he doesn't write for the Mags... And most importantly I wornder what he thinks of the current state of skate mags. But maybe that's just another reason what makes this Blog so cool

Unknown said...

one of your best posts yet man, by far. Almost defies commenting.

But I gotta say, that first Mike V pic, the Olson pic, and the Sheffy ollie...never saw those. Fucking great photos.

Nice to see all the H. Hunter.

Wheres Quim?!?!?!?!

Javier MNC add one of my all time fav. skate photos.

Thanks again matey

Royce said...

@keith. The title actually is refering to jumping over the wall and landing in the exit lane of an off ramp.

Although the Maurice reference is a good one.

Anonymous said...

I think the Keenan tricks a nollie hard flip, sick post!

Anonymous said...

@Royce

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4sGPc0d5CY

wyatt lee said...

The Hickey/Marcopoulos ollie is still my fav for some reason. Koston's nollie b/s heel and Quim's nollie varial flip over the wall are my favorite tricks over the wall in general, but the whole spot just feels like skateboarding. Only got to skate it once, middle of summer at 1:00 AM, me and one friend. Fairly epic. Word to Jamie's line in Welcome To Hell.

Dave said...

900 is a grand slam. So many good memories.

Anonymous said...

Awesome post!
Id love to see that full Josh & Fred piece up on here. That was the shit!