After Dark to Well Past Dusk, New York City Delivers

Volcom’s fondness for summers in New York City stretches back to when the Skate Team would hole up in the city for weeks at time, as was documented in 2008’s All The Days Roll Into One, that offered a glimpse behind-the-scenes into the constant ups and downs of trying to skate on demand in a hectic city.

Today our trips to the city are shorter but more frequent, including this past summer’s trip for the premiere of Holy Stokes! A Real Life Happening that included a solid afternoon traversing the city, followed by the Volcom X Antihero NYC skate mission in July to film for the last fall’s Volcom X Antihero collaboration.

Antihero team must have hit this spot too.

Fresh on the heels of the Volcom X AntiHero trip, a new set of Volcom crew showed up to continue our NYC summer fun. Balaram Stack, Jordan Trahan, Arto Saari and Austin Amelio (of The Walking Dead Fame, and a true skater in his own right) joined Chris Pfanner who extended his stay for another couple days of madness. The plan? To take in as much of New York as possible the following day! Street spots, skate parks, underground bars, good eats, drinks and beaches were all on the list.

Morning stoop life with Chris Pfanner

The squad easily located their Airbnb by the broken chairs and destroyed skateboard decks littering the front patio from the skate team’s stay for the Antihero shoot. Inside we were greeted to a bevy of leftovers including fruit, granola and anything else deemed too healthy for consumption by the skate team. All adult beverages however had been put to good use and the house showed signs of good times. We would be hard-pressed to out due them.

Pfann Man ripping under the BQE!

Stories of New York go something like: freezing in the winter, hot and muggy in the summer. Luck was on our side and we were blessed with sunny days and cool breezes. We headed to the BQE Lot first thing for a skate sesh. Getting grimy and trying a few tricks under the bridge is always fun. Pfanner ollied the cement launch ramp and Trahan filled his time with kickflip wallride to fakie attempts that had us scratching our heads. Next thing you know, a five-minute storm comes out of nowhere blasting gutter-dirt and rain into our faces. After seeking shelter, we rinsed off with an open fire hydrant spewing sweet relief from the reemerged sun, just like in the movies!

Austin Amilio cooling off from the summer heat.

The temperature can soar midday in New York and a bike is a great way to explore the city without the constant pushing of a skateboard. Balaram, a New Yorker since he was 5, showed us his way to the beach without breaking a sweat. Bikes and surfboards easily fit on the train to Long Beach too and before long we were amongst sand, blue water and summer breakers.

Austin Amilio taking in the down time on the way to Long Beach

Made it to Long Beach!

After a dip in the Atlantic, the new Long Beach Skate Park, opened in 2015, is a short ride opposite the beach. A fun little park with a flow section and a small bowl. Just watch out for the rent-a-cops who enforce code regulations with gusto! They’ll pour out a grown man’s full beer on a hot day just to show their might!

Balaram takes a quick dip.

Arto takes a break from behind the lens to have Pfanner blast over him at the little Long Beach Skate Park

Back in the city and ready to ready to take in some libations?

Dustin Dollin knows bars and recommended we hit an underground bar called Berlin. It was a fine time dancing shoulder to shoulder with only red lights illuminating the young crowd. We even saw Macaulay Culkin there, but he told us “no photos after midnight.” That’s a good policy to have… so with that we’ll end the story of our day here.

Visit New York City, skate! Head to Long Beach, swim and skate! Go to bars and dance underground! We did and we recommend it!