LIFE SUCKS
 

I HAPPENED UPON THIS SKATEBOARD PARK when it was being built on a long abandoned lot next to a freeway, a recycling plant, and a junkyard. Tony,  a skater and skate park builder, set up an NGO to get $40,00 for materials, (most of it from local skaters and Thrasher Magazine) and built the park in just five months with all volunteer labor. It was up and working in December 2013 and has been in almost constant use by locals and skaters from all over the world..Despite the city wanting to tear it down, his construction crew has kept the park up and added new ramps, new mosaic art, and even a memorial barbecue pit. Tony had hoped the city would eventually  bring in some toilets and dumpsters, but that hasn't happened. West Oakland councilwoman Lynette McElhanny still wants the park torn down because she felt it was an insult to the long-time black residents of the Lower Bottoms. "Too many people have come here thinking they can do whatever they want", she says. "These were white boys coming here only because they knew they would be kicked out of any other neighborhood."