The first time Xavier Harris, 21, visited the new skate park in Jersey City, N.J., it was July, and the course was still being built. So he scaled a temporary fence to get inside. The second time, Mr. Harris, who started skateboarding when he was 9, crawled under a chain-link fence.

Just after it officially opened in August, he rode his skateboard through the open gate, rolled down a ramp, maintained his momentum and finished by bounding over a blue recycling can.

?I just want to flow around,? said Mr. Harris, a garbage collector from East Orange, N.J.

From New Jersey across the Hudson River to New York, skateboarders are now enjoying many more places to flow at a time when outdoor space has become more coveted with the coronavirus resurging. ...

?If you?re really going to be a world-class city and you?re going to invest in recreation, you need to think beyond traditional sports,? Steven Fulop, Jersey City?s mayor, said. ?Thus, we?ve invested in our first skate park and we?re probably going to be doing more.?...

In New Jersey, the debut of Jersey City?s inaugural skate park was the culmination of years of struggle by local skateboarders, who had grown accustomed to working on their boards on the steps of a post office or in abandoned lots.

One of the more popular spots was nicknamed the ?Junk Spot,? a remote area next to the New Jersey Turnpike. But as Jersey City has gentrified, developers have claimed many of these lots, squeezing out skateboarders.

The skaters tried to create their own dedicated space, but funding was a challenge. City officials eventually took up their cause, and with the help of private grants the skate park project, which took seven years and nearly $900,000 to complete, took shape at the end of an industrial block not far from the Liberty State Park.

Yvonne wrote:
I totally disagree, I have seen kids play as a teacher, now retire. They use more oxygen. https://www.nsca.com/education/article ... ontributions-to-exercise/

Bike_Lane wrote:
Quote:

Yvonne wrote:
You need a lot more oxygen when you do this activity. So covering your mouth and nose together is a problem.

For most people it's not a problem.

Yvonne wrote:
You need a lot more oxygen when you do this activity. So covering your mouth and nose together is a problem.

Fulop said the new facility will make up for the loss of a number of makeshift skateparks that local skateboarders had set up but were closed or relocated over the years.

?From a demolished local DIY skatepark in 2007 to an effective partnership with the skaters, municipality, and the JCRA, it?s great to see the Berry Lane Skatepark finally open,? said Programs Manager for The Skatepark Project Alec Beck. ?Support from the community has brought this space from untenable soil to a rich experience for action sports enthusiasts of all ages and schedules.?

Steven Lenardo, a local teacher and owner of NJ Skate shop in Jersey City, was a strong advocate for a local skatepark, according to Fulop.

?This is for my students, to offer them an alternative activity to more traditional sports and keep skateboarding alive and hopefully give it to new people to enjoy as I have my whole life,? Lenardo said.

Council President Joyce Watterman said the new skatepark provides new opportunities for youth to get out, exercise, and remain socially distanced in a safe environment.