Thursday NY RECONverse

Hey Team - this morning we camped out at Blue Bottle coffee shop after coming across some awesome street art.

Once the skate shops opened up, we started at the most well-known store in the area - KCDC Skate Shop on Wythe and 3rd Street.  They have a bunch of magazines (Vice and some local guy who showcases local photographers), flyers for concerts, ads for personal classes on film-making, etc.  Two male customers walked in - one immediately checked out the information in the window and the other went toward the merchandise.

While at KCDC we chatted with the store manager (about 28 y/o), Andrew.  He moved to NYC from upstate NY and lives in Bed Stuy, has been skating for 20 years and worked at the shop as manager for the past 4 years. Here is what we found out:

• There is a lively skate scene in Bushwick, but skaters that have been in the area for a while feel their territory is being encroached upon by younger kids moving to NYC to "find/reinvent" themselves.  He thought the whole vibe is turning fake.
• Several indoor skate shops have closed in the area due to funding.  
• When a skate shop opens up, they sell a limited number of "keys" that grant access to the site. Once they feel they have enough members to have an awesome community but still a limited enough to be exclusive and make sure it doesn't overpopulate, they stop selling keys.  This resulted in keys being shared and not enough money being made for the owners.
• When a new spot opens up (indoor or outdoor), it's a race to see who can film tricks there first.  No one wants to repeat other people's tricks or be a poser.  These are posted on Instagram, YouTube, and skate-specific sites.
• Some places have a rule of "NO INSTAGRAM PICTURES" so that the spot doesn't get discovered or too popular.
• The skate shop sells $10 mystery bags that could contain a t-shirt, beanie, stickers, a magazine - or all!
• His favorite shake shoe was the old school suede and leather high top vans (brown and gold).
• He didn't know where the Converse indoor skate park (Winterbowl - co-sponsored by Levi's) but he did know that Levi's is involved with a lot of events/places in the skate scene.
• 
  
•