The Spot
Known for its craggy ramps, graffiti, and devoted community members, this D.I.Y. skatepark attracts locals and college students looking for a place to skateboard.
Positioned between an HVAC warehouse and a gas station that doubles as a takeout pizza restaurant, Syracuse’s DIY skatepark, called “The Spot” by locals, exists as a perpetual work in progress. Skateboarders and BMX riders use cement, scrap metal, plywood, trash, and whatever else they find to transform the old tennis courts of Ormond Spencer Park just off Erie Boulevard. Open 24/7 thanks to two street lights that illuminate the space at night, it features cement ramps and ledges riddled with cracks and divots after a decade of skateboarding and deterioration from the city’s famously harsh winters (those seeking smooth ground to skate on should head a mile down the road to the East Woods Skate Plaza).
The spray-paint art of local artists and skateboarders covers the craggy ramps and ledges. Those colorful designs also exist in a constant state of flux. Some designs last months; others are painted over a few days after their creation. New features appear and old ones break or fall apart. When something becomes un-skateable, the community finds a new way to skate it or use the rubble and scrap to fill another ramp. The park breathes thanks to that shared tending to the space and the creativity it invites, building a community fueled by more than movement on a strip of wood on wheels.
Unspoken rules and mutual respect guide community members. “With the growing popularity of skateboarding there has been a huge amount of new skateboarders that come down from SU and ESF, most of us are happy to have them,” says Cris Moore, a Spot regular. “Most of the time with college students, there seems to be some unspoken rule that we only hang out within the confines of the skatepark.” Moore emphasizes that this is not the case. The Spot serves as one of many locations around the city where skateboarders convene at.
Most DIY skateparks have a limit to their longevity due to property laws, insurance risks, and complaints from neighbors. In fact, often skateboarders pour their time and money into building a small park in an abandoned lot only to return to find “No Trespassing” signs, or, even worse, that officials demolished the park overnight. But through effort from local skaters and with cooperation from the city, The Spot has managed to stay alive. Although the city of Syracuse doesn’t directly support the park, it hasn’t destroyed or condemned it either.
Originally, Syracuse pushed back against skateboarders. After the first obstacle, a brick ledge, was built, the city locked the gates to the courts. Despite the height of the fence, kids hopped it, and it became a “weird right of passage” and a very “invite/locals only” kind of operation, says Moore. Police officers routinely patrolled the area, ticketing people for skating in the unauthorized courts. But a few skateboarders pushed back and presented a proposal to board members of the Syracuse City Parks. After a long approval process, city officials gifted the space to the skateboarding community.
Today those who frequent The Spot take pride in the structures and the vibe they’ve created. “It is a mix that you could get nowhere else, with skateboarders aged three to sixty, artists, out-of-towners, the homeless, and town crazies,” Moore says. “I think that some of these people would feel like or be treated like outcasts, if this place still functioned as a tennis court.” And those out-of-towners often come from skating meccas such as New York and Los Angeles, but Moore says those visitors often offer praise for the space. For locals, The Spot serves as a meet-up point that often runs late into the night, and those, like Moore, who have been around for years, enjoy supporting newcomers and serving as role models for younger skaters. “The Spot is one of the most welcoming environments I have ever been to,” Moore says.
