Apparently skateboarding IS a crime

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/cape/111903CMSKATEN18.html

The council introduced an ordinance Monday night that makes it illegal to "possess, park or stand, carry or transport," any skateboard at public places within the city.

What the fuck?

New jersey is so full of laws that fly in the face of common sense/ the constitution that it makes my head spin. I'm convinced that the gun laws in new jersey violate the civil rights acts, as do the absurd liquor licencing laws, which gives favoritism to vast corporatons with deep pockets, and nothing to startup businesses, which are often minorities. This can't be legal. It doesn't pass the smell test. It seems like there is some sort of commerce clase problem with this.

[Edited on Nov 21, 2003 by egon]

But it's Cape May. Who goes there but old people?

Okay, I'm showing my Philly goin' down the sho' roots.

The local police pushed for this. Now, most of you on the CE board are aware of my staunch support for the police, but this is fucking rediculous.

Cape May must be the safest goddam town in the world if all the local police have to worry about is teenage kids skateboarding. Are their egos that fragile that they had to push for this? They complained that since it's not illegal to possess a skateboard, the kids would stop skating when the cops showed up and the cops couldn't do a thing about it. Boo-fucking hoo.

And people wonder why nobody under the age of 30 likes police.

hahahaha!!! so GAY!

after school, i moved to what i thought was skateboarding mecca at the time, santa cruz, ca. apparently youre only allowed to break your neck in skateparks cause when i tried to run errands downtown on saturday (like a good little citizen) id get tickets. skateboarding tickets and traffic violations on my bicycle. what a let down.

I wish my town would introduce a law like that. Don't get me wrong, I used to love skating (till I shattered my ankle doing it) but it should be in proper skate parks, not streets or malls, which is exactly what happens where I live. Prime example was about a week ago a new shopping plaza was opened and within hours, skatepunks where grinding and ollying all over the place. I mean for fucks sake, that just really takes the piss. One of the features there is a really nice sun dial sculpture, which is a prime candidate for a good grind, but the outer edge of the dial also has these little raised bits that will either get snapped off, or chew the fuck out of a deck
The other sad thing is half the punks in town don't actually skate (you can tell by the pristine deck graphics and clean wheels) they just carry the boards around.
Funniest thing was one time in McDonalds, this punk had just got a new deck for his board. (The old one was really scrathed up and stuck out the back of his bag) While he was in the queue, one of his friends tapped his shoulder. He turned round, and the deck in his bag smashed some little kid in the face
Spike

[Edited on Nov 21, 2003 by Spike]

The average age of the skateboarder hovers around the 11-13 age range. It's really easy to legislate against those who are not seen as a "vote." Contain it. Control it. Put it behind a fence. "Oooo...we'll support a skatepark." That's the mentality.

In Carmel, CA, I saw a signs banning only skateboards. Pedestrians, bikes, and--*shudders*--inline skates were a-OK.

Ban what you don't understand. It's not a sport. There are no coaches or uniforms or rectangular fenced-in areas where skateboarding happens.

No offense, Cash, but the officers that have been chasing me and my skateboard around for the last 20+ years don't do much for my image of the law.

I've always loved how people get so offended that skateboarders might see a curb as more than a curb. And when citizens get so outraged that a nice, smooth concrete obelisk might be used for more than just a place for pigeons to shit.

"You're defacing public works!"

Yeah, unlike the huge spot of oil your car just left on the ground some ten feet away from your "public art."



[Edited on Nov 21, 2003 by McQueen]

execellent point. can O be added as a.... YES!!!

but your seeing it all wrong. They are banning an activity that doesn't support consumerism as much as shopping and paying for entertainment does. After all, if the kids don't get into drinking at a young age, then the alchohol chorporations will go out of business. And if they stop having kids at a young age because they are more interested in getting physical activity, then the toddler industry will show poor profits for the quarter, and the stockholders will be unhappy. And if we don't keep our strip malls in perfect condition and non threatening to keep shoppers happy, they might have to try and understand why someone would rather excercise and have fun than consume. We can't have that.

Despite what I wrote, I have no problem with people using them as a form of transport. What pisses me off is the punks that are skating in the mall and plaza despite having been given a skatepark (which they campaigned for) and paid for by the council (ie my taxes)

Spike

are you SURE you used to skate? half the fun is fresh terrain and getting yelled at and feeling rebellious and all that business.

Having or not having a skatepark is irrelevant. You can't put skateboarding in a box. Some kids in my neighborhood were all excited about a new park that was going up (a few years back i Camppbell, CA). I had to caution them about being too stoked. I tols them, "it isn't about recognizing you as a skateboarder. It's about fencing it in and posting hours of operation. And then banning it everywhere else because 'now you have this park.'"

It's a football-sport mentality. That of course, has no business in skateboarding.

And out of curiousity, who built your local skatepark? Some jackasses in Gilroy, CA set out to build a park. And the thing is such a piece of shit, no one wants to skate it. Anyone who has spent more than a few days on a skateboard can see it. Banks into curbs. No lines to be had. And it's built on a slope. Now the city council whines about the apparent "waste of tax payer money."

Quite sure, and still got the pin in my ankle to prove it (Not that you can actually see it or anything)
Fresh terrain my ass, dude The kids in my town (to young to vote, fuck or have their slave-labor jobs taxed) campaigned for a skatepark so they could skate without being hassled. The council gave them one (at the expence of my fellow tax payers) but do they actually use it? No. They carry on using the mall and now the new plaza. It's the whole 'biting the hand that feeds' mentality that gets me.
Spike

I wonder how many empty basketball courts there are in your area. I ask this assuming the issue is public monies and use of public space for recreational endeavors.

[Edited on Nov 21, 2003 by McQueen]

I see your point, and you know I respect you, but to me, isn't the whole idea of a skatepark so people have somewhere to skate without getting hassle from people?

It was built by our town council (so out of our taxes). Admitedly, it's not as good as some of the parks I've seen in skate videos like Day of the Rope, Disturbed or Natural Disaster, but it does have everything a skater needs. (it's also flood-lit so never actually closes)

Spike


[Edited on Nov 21, 2003 by Spike]

I don't know if there are any basketball courts( ), but the local tennis courts are seldom empty, and the recently refurbised swimming pool/gym is always crowded.

Spike

[Edited on Nov 21, 2003 by Spike]

wow- some of my family runs a skate shop.
wonder if their store would be closed down after a law like this.

last i heard, this was supposedly a free country.

hoping all the skaters are planning a huge act of possessing, parking or standing, carrying or transporting, ALL their skateboards at public places within the city-over and over again until such a stoooooopid law is removed.

Gotcha. That's good...for the other courts and what not. Out here, I pass so many empty basketball courts, fields, etc. I often wonder why people get so bent about building skateparks and seeing kids still out on the streets. I guess it just boils down to that "skate everything" mentality.

But if might be an old guy for a minute, you should see the kids that do make it out to the park. They spend all afternoon skating one rail in one corner of the park. All the bowls are empty...

Damn kids don't know what they're missing.

cheers, Spike.

No problemo, and they'll learn in time It's like the guy says in American Pie
"Batting a ball against a wall is fun, but not as much fun as playing with a partner."
Once they've mastered the rail, (or drank enough) they'll move onto the bowls

Spike

i like your brain.

What about those courts in Campbell Park, just a few blocks from the skatepark? Those're always jammed. I'm out here, too

Dude, no offense taken. That was my point from the get-go. They persecute kids for skateboarding, then they wonder why kids don't respect cops.

Anytime the police harrass kids for skateboarding, provided the kids aren't doing something that's actually illegal, they're wasting time.

A few years ago, I was trying to get some sleep because I had to work early in the morning. My bedroom window faced a parking lot. It was around midnight and I was awoken to the sound of kids skateboarding. Doing tricks, just messing around. I went outside to ask them to move along, fully expecting them to tell me to go fuck myself. But they apologized for the noise and went to the parking lot across the street.

I was glad I asked them nicely the first time.