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By Eric Badia
W
hen thinking ofskateboarding,images of southernCalifornia may popinto your head —beautiful people,warm weather, palmtrees. Long Island is probably not thefirst thing that comes to mind.However, the skateboarding industryin this area is strong and vibrant. Ifyou are in your twenties or older, youhave probably seen your share ofskaters, skate parks, and skate shopsrise and fall. Even though there areskate shops in Long Island that arerelatively new, several have beenaround for many years and are sta-ples in the Long Island skating com-munity. They continue to support,sponsor, and equip thousands of localLong Island skaters.For residents ofNassau County, thelist of skate shops isnot only extensivebut includes severalhigh quality, full serv-ice stores. Jeff of
I.N.S. Boards
inCedarhurst (call themat (516) 792-3165 orlog on toinsbaords.com) sayshis shop provides“friendly service” anda full line of top-notchskateboards and apparel. In additionto being a fully equipped service cen-ter, I.N.S. provides sponsorship forlocal skaters and an exclusive servicethat, according to Jeff, is “very popu-lar” — custom image grip tape jobs.In Valley Stream,
Mass Transit
(callthem at (516) 561-2521 or log on tomasstransitny.com)retails a widearray of skateboards and apparel inan upscale setting, and isalso a full service facility.“We are Nassau County’spremier exclusive skate-board shop, we have beenin business for three and ahalf years and business isstrong,” reported Tom,owner of the popular facility.On Jericho Turnpike inMineola you can find
MineolaBicycle Fitness Mower
(con-tact them at (516) 742 5253). Whilethat title may be an unusual name fora skate shop, rest assured that thismulti-purpose store can provide any-thing you need to give your skate-boarding habit a fix. Audrey, owner ofMineola Bicycle Fitness Mower, saidthat the skateboarding portion of herbusiness has “grown quite a bit in thelast four years.” She reported thatthey are open seven days a week andcarry everything from sneakers to hel-mets, and can build or repair anyskateboard.Doug at
District Board Shop
inMassapequa (call them at (516) 797-5216) reported that he carries hotbrands such as Zero, Enjoi, Almost,and many others. Doug also spon-sors local skaters and strives to keephis young customers safe. Districtcarries equipment and apparel, aswell as being a full service facility.According to Mercedes of
Off BeatSkate Shop
in Long Beach (call themat (516) 431-4306), you can find morethan just skateboards at this hip localstore. In addition to selling exclusivehigh-end skateboard parts, acces-sories, and apparel, “we do art showswith local and national tattoo and graf-fiti artists.” Off Beat also sells exclu-sive spray paints and carries anextensive line of sneakers.
Bodega Skateboards
in Bellmore(bodegaskateboards.com) is LongIsland’s distributor of Bodega skate-boarding equipment and apparel, inbusiness since 1996. Oscar ofBodega said they supply Long Islandskate shops such asSpecial Sauce,Rick’s ActionSports, and manyothers. While themajority ofBodega’s businessis wholesale, theydo offer onlineshopping for thepublic on theirwebsite. In addi-tion, Bodega spon-sors a large skateteam, includingwell-known riderJohn Reeves.Skaters in western Suffolk Countyhave their share of quality shops aswell. Huntington Village is home totwo skateboard shops within one mile.
HeliSport
(call (631) 549-1127)offers a unique variety of outdoorequipment and apparel,and it isno slouchwhen it comes to skate-boards.
The Board Shop
(boardshop1.com, (631) 4247873) on Main Street has 7,000square feet of snowboards, surf-boards, wakeboards, skateboards,and apparel. The Board Shop alsofeatures trained technicians and salespeople that ride what they sell.
Xtreme Surf And Sport
in(Xtremesurfandsport.com, (800) 8774602) is 5,500 square feet of every-thing surf, snow, and skate.According to Tony, owner of Xtreme,“We are the largest shop on theIsland, as far as products go.” Tonysays that on any given day, Xtremewill have between 200 and 250boardsin stockas wellas every-thing frombearingsto griptape.“Anythingthat’s hot,we have itin stock,”adds Tony.In addition tothe latestproducts,Tony saysXtreme alsohas an “old-school” sectionwith many vin-tage boards.Xtreme hasbeen in businessfor 12 years andoffers surf andskating lessons,and sponsorslocal skaters.Perhaps the bestknown as well asthe most estab-lished skate shop inthe Island is
SpecialSauce
(specialsauce.com, (631) 6663290) in Bay Shore. Founded in1994, this purveyor of skate, surf, andsnowboards now has three retail loca-tions. Pete from Special Sauce saysthat European skating is much differ-ent than traditional U.S./west coast-style skating. He wanted to bring thatEuropean feel to his store, so Peteimported lines such as Cliché fromFrance and began retailing them.Special Sauce naturallycarries all of thetopbrands ofskateboards andapparel such as D&K,Baker, Chocolate, Girl, and manymore. Special Sauce also has a localskateboarding team, and Pete report-ed that a fair share of skateboard proswere developed in this area –renowned pro skater Gino Iannucci isfrom Westbury, while superstarAnthony Pappalardo hails fromMassapequa. Both make sporadicappearances at Special Sauce.
GrindSkateboardShop
(grind-skateshop.com, (631) 285-7812) inRonkonkoma features a huge line ofequipment and apparel. Marc fromGrind says that they are “all aboutskateboarding. It’s got to have fourwheels; we don’t do anything withbikes, etc.” Grind has a full skateteam with many riders, and they holdregular events at the store. “We’ll putout a rail and box or a ramp,” saysMarc. However, he says that Grindhas a new full skate park facility in theworks and that construction hasalready begun. “The park will beabout three blocks from the currentshop and should be completed bymid-September.” Marc says thattheir customers ride rightthrough the winter aswell, “If there isn’tsnow on the ground,they’re on the board.”So to keep the cus-tomers coming in duringthe colder months, Grindwill bring in video gamesand host events in thestore.
Rick’s Action Sports
inEast Islip (ricksactionsport-sandsurfshop.com, (631) 581-2299) can help any skater –from novice or a pro – witheverything from entry level “com-pletes” (completely assembledboards) to top-of-the-line equip-ment. Rick’s also carries a full line ofapparel, as well as all of the latestskating DVDs.For those of you on the east end,there are several excellent skateshops sprinkled throughout the area.Jeremy from
Skidmore’s Sports AndStyles
in Hampton Bays (skidmores-ports.bizland.com, (631) 728-0066)
 G i n o  I a n n u c c i
 M a s s  T r a n s i t
Good Times Magazine - July 31 – August 13, 2007 • 5
 
says that his store “carrieseverything for skateboards.”Apparel, equipment, andhardware are not the onlyitems available for the avidskater. “We repair and fullybuild skateboards as well.”Khanh, owner of
KhanhSports
in East Hampton(khanhsports.com, (631)324-0703), is living thedream: “I’m a skatermyself. I’ve been skatingsince I was a young kid.”Now, Khanh has set upshop 10 minutes from thelocal skate park and equips localskaters with everything they need.Khanh says they have a big selectionand “We try to do it all, so that any kidcan come in and get what they need.”They also carry GFH Minis foryounger skaters and the unique Carveboards.For skaters who live at “the end,”
Air & Speed Surf Shop
in Montaukserves both skaters and surfers onthe far east end. Stew at Air & Speedsays that even though “business hasslowed down the last few years,” theycontinue to carry skateboardingequipment and service. The propri-etorsays they have seen a lotof action with other types of skating,“so now we carry quite a bit of longboards.”Anyone who has skated in LongIsland during the last 10 years knowsthe state of skate parks is volatile, tosay the least. Over the years, dozensof parks have vanished – but thereare still a handful of bona fide skateparks, indoor and outdoor, in the area.
Inline 1 Extreme
, an independentlyowned park in Mount Sinai(inline1.com, (631) 474-2900) is a cli-mate-controlled 34,000 square footmul-tipurpose facility with a rollerhockey arena, outdoor skate park, proshop, and deli. Tom, a partner inInline 1 Extreme, says the outdoorskate park is “the largest in the tri-state area.” Tom says the entire parkis constructed with Skatelite, which isvery fast and smooth. Inline 1 alsohas “X Camp,” a skating camp forkids ages five and up. According toTom, “kids will train with the best,” andtheir camp instructors have riddenwith pros such as Tony Hawk. Theirpro shop offers a large selectionof equipment and apparel, andthe deli has a full selection of rea-sonably priced snacks and meals.Possibly the best known skatepark on Long Island is
Oil CitySkate Park
in Oceanside (oilci-tysk8.com, (516) 594-1888). OilCity has been in business fiveyears and continues to provideskaters from around the Island witha superb arena for skating. The15,000 square foot indoor facility isone-of-a-kind in the area, with a 12-foot vertical ramp, seven-foot halfpipe, a four-foot mini-ramp, and a fullstreet course featuring rails, ramps,boxes, and a pyramid. Membershipand protective pads are required toskate, and packages from five ses-sions to full-year unlimited sessionsare available. The park is open sevendays a week and the scheduleincludes BMX only sessions, Mondaynights from 7 to 11pm and Fridaynights from 11pm to 1 am. Openskating is from 4 to 10 pm Tuesdaythrough Thursday, 4 to 11pm Friday,11am to 11pm Saturday, and 11 am to7 pm on Sunday.On
Moores Lane in Greenport
(greenportvillage.com,(631) 477-
Skateboarding photos by Angela Liu, courtesy Bodega Skateboards
For the Long Island-based indierock group Ready In 10, it certain-ly has been a summer in the sun:They’ve been signed to perform awhopping five times at the WaMuMusic Stage at Nikon at JonesBeach Theater.While it certainly is not the mainstage at Nikon, the WaMu Stagegives deserving area acts achance to display their talents toa broad audience before thenight’s headliner performs.Ready In 10 certainly must haveimpressed the entertainment com-pany Live Nation, who booked theband to perform at Nikon on June5 (opening for Fall Out Boy), June27 (The Fray), July 21 (Goo GooDolls), Poison (July 24), and com-ing up on August 9 (Incubus).That’s great exposure for anyfast-risingrock act.“To have a company like LiveNation on your side is an amazingfeat for any band – especially onewho is working hard to make thewheels turn without the help of amajor record label,” said lead vocalistSal Nastasi in a recent press state-ment.Currently, this promising band –comprised of Nastasi on vocals, MarcViola on guitar, Mike Elefante onbass, and Jim Milano on drums –have their sights set on the immediatefuture. They’re currently bookingshows around the New York area andthe surrounding area for the fall.However, success, like with any newproject, can be a lot of hard work tomake happen.Ready In 10, in reality, snagged itsname from a Chinese restaurantmenu promising quick delivery, butthis quartet group does not take itsmusic lightly. Only six months afterforming in January 2005, Ready In 10was already opening up for a sold-outRusted Root performance. Thegroup’s diligence didn’t halt there,releasing its debut album, Face TheWorld, to their own sold-out audienceat Live Trax in Bellmore on August 5,2006.The sounds exhibited on Face TheWorld touch many genres from bluesto rock to ballads to pop, an attributethat has brought about comparisonswith such Top 40 icons as Matchbox20, Bon Jovi, and Maroon 5. Lyrically,the quartet draws from its environ-ment; there is always a story to betold in actual events occurring in dailylife.Since the release of Face TheWorld, Ready In 10 has beenplaying shows throughout NewYork and into Boston and NewJersey. They had the opportunityto open for another Long Islandband made good, Nine Days, onlyweeks after lead vocalist SalNastasi sang the National Anthemat a New York Jets Game atGiants Stadium on September 1,2006. With all the accomplish-ments of 2006, a high water markwas reached when their song“Green Eyed Girl” was used in anonline Sony/Ericsson advertise-ment for a new cell phone, theW810.Reportedly, the band has gradu-ally been working on new materialfor their next album release.Given their accomplishments andtheir highly professional and proficientrecording style, perhaps their lack of a“major label” may be a temporarycondition.Ready In 10 recently released theirfirst music video (check their websitesfor more information). For more infor-mation, please visit: readyin10.com ormyspace.com/readyin10. In addition,those who can’t make the JonesBeach appearance can catch theband at Paddy McGee’s in IslandPark on Saturday, August 4.
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Summer At The Beach 
Good Times Magazine - July 31 – August 13, 2007 • 6
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alysaally

Hi its very interesting about Skateboard Parks Shops.

reply09 / 15 / 2008
angelinaani

You have given good information. Nice images are shared.

reply09 / 10 / 2008
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