








photo: Ivory Serra
photos: Martha Cooper
TheMontauk Skatepark, designed and built by Skateboard legend Andy Kessler in 1999
Born in Athens, Greece, and raised on the Upper West of Manhattan, Andy, arguably New York City's most legendary skateboarder, received his first deck at the age of eleven. Rolling through a vibrant and chaotic NYC in the 1970's, Andy pioneered the city's original skate scene, sculpting the cultural landscape where his spirit continues to be felt to this day. As the seventies cruised on, skateboarding exploded, and Andy was the fuse and unbridled marshal. The Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park was the center of the action, and Andy ruled, birthing the original 'Zoo York" style and swagger. All city skating, DIY ramps in Riverside Park, and skating the few empty pools (Deathbowl) in the Riverdale section in the Bronx, followed. Andy's passion and dedication to the emerging urban skate world and community, of his, and future generations, is reflected thru his unheralded efforts in designing and building the foremost skateparks of NYC ( 108 and Riverside, Owls' Head, Hudson River Skatepark, Blinde Bowl), and The Montauk Skatepark.