Smithtown Skateboarders

[Katherine]

I am concerned about the many stories I have heard about the young male skateboarders in Smithtown. Many of Smithtowns businesses, churches, and public spaces are being held hostage by 15 year old boys. Police can do little, town can do nothing and parents either don't care or don't know. They are vandalizing, trespassing, and in conveniencing many. I heard they cursed out and threatened a minister in town! What can our Smithtown do?

[Andrew]

Hi, I am a 17 year old skateboarder from Smithtown. Where do you expect us skaters to go if we have no where else to skate? Other towns such as Greenlawn and Mt.Sinai have local skateparks, which is what Smithtown needs.

[a biker]

u guys can make us a skatepark and we wont be at ur church and another thing dont take it us out on us becuase the people who built the church like built stuff to sktae and ride

[skater]

this article has brought to my attention an interesting fact...that we are not supposed to engage in physical activity. I am a skater in smithtown, and being in the scene, i am sure i would have heard about one of my piers cursing out and threatinig a minister. as for my parents,they don't care that were skateboarding, because they shouldnt. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO STOP THIS "VANDALIZING,TRESSPASING AND IN CONVENIENCING," I HAVE A SMALL SUGGESTION. QUIT TAKING OUR TAX DOLLARS FOR STUPID PROJECTS AND BUILD A SKATEPARK.

[Andrew]

I was there when the minister got cursed out. There was some un called for behavior by the workers of the church.

[skater]

katherine the skaters are not holding up any places , if they tell us to leave we do. what would you like us to do sit at home and play video games all day and get fat?... what can smithtown do? they can build a spot for all the skaters and bikers in Smithtown (skate park)

[not kool]

that not kool pll need somewere to skate

[mike]

hello im one of the skateboarders you are talking about. The way you say that we are "holding businesses, churches, and public places hostage" is completly untrue. Just because we are skating somewhere does mean we are holding it hostage. If someone asks us to leave the place we are at, we leave. But if we really are hurting you that much there is a simple solution to this "problem". If smithtown were to simply build us some sort of a skatepark it would significantly reduce the amount of skaters there would be at places you don't want us to be at. Even something as simple as a parking lot that is made just for skateboarders would do plenty.

[friends of skaters]

i read this article with my friends and i understand ur concers. but as friends of the "skaters" they have no where else to do it and its what they enjoy. if smithtown wasnt so involved in the football team that isnt very good, they would see that we need to put our tax money to something else that kids can do.

[mike]

Also, i forgot to follow up about the minister situation. There were a few innapropriate things said to him one day but he was never "cursed out" and would sertanly never be threatened. There was only one or two people that said those innapropriate things and i was actually one of a few people who appoligized for saying those things.

[felix]

some people call me mourise

[rob]

I am another skater in the smithtown area. There is no areas for us to skate in the smithtown area because wherever we go we get kicked out. This causes stress for us because we arent doing anything wrong we are just skating. People consider skating like dealing drugs and its really not that harsh. When people tell us to leave we wont give them a hard time but with the minister incident the people of that church gave us no respect. they acted as if we were criminals taking pictures of us and stealing our personal possessions. You cant tell us to stop skating so that wont work and we will keep getting kicked out of spots until someone will stand up for us and talk to the town to make us a skatepark.

[Mike H]

Katherine I agree with the fact that we might be trespassing. It's almost impossible not to with no skateparks in the vacinity of the area. I myself am 17 years old and have recently fell out of the skateboarding scene. I guess different people have different situations but if there was anything that kept me from vandalizing, trespassing, and in conveniencing people durning my youth, it was skateboarding. It's really wrong what happened to that minister at St. Andrews but you honestly cannot make a judgement to what happened unless you were there. St. Andrews was where I went everyday since I was around 13/14 years old up until a few months ago. It really has helped the youth of smithtown stay out of trouble in a town where the high school has drug problems. I hope you can understand where I'm coming from.

[Nick]

Okay first of all Katherine, I highly doubt that a group of 15 year old boys can hold a church parking lot hostage. Second, I happen to be one of the kids that skate at the church on a daily basis and I was there when the minister situation happened. There were about two people making inappropriate statements and everyone else apologized. We were even apologizing after the staff of the church came out with cameras and started taking pictures of us and trying to confiscate our equipment. Also, theres a reason that the cops and the town cant do anything..SKATEBOARDING IS NOT ILLEGAL. And if you have such a big problem with us, then YOU get the town to build a skate park. If you dont want to do that, then dont complain about us skating where we want.

[Evan]

Smithtown skateboarders are certainly not holding anybody hostage. We are just looking for somewhere to skateboard and thats all. I've tried the whole petition thing and sending it to town hall. It does absolutely nothing. We don't damage anything at all. When we get kicked out we leave without giving problems and we do not disrespect unless disrespected. We're just trying to do what we love to do.

[Skate]

Skateboarding is not a crime.

[Charlie]

listen i really dont see the big deal.we live in a drug infested town with nothing more to do then skate or just hang out. if smithtown is such a high class rich area, then why cant our town "afford" to build a skatepack for the kids in this town.as for the minister being cursed at..thats really uncalled for but whats done is done and apologies WERE made by a few of the kids which shows they are not as bad as you think.

[citizen]

I think that the skaters in Smithtown deserve a suitable place to skate. These kids are getting off thier couches and practicing a great sport. They are constantly booted off the school grounds and have no place to skate. Paying the highest taxes in this area, do you think the town will help us out?

[John]

I am a 13 year old skateboarder from smithtown, i have spent $100s of dollars going to skateparks, and i can not afford it! My parents also have to drive me 20 miles to get to the closest skatepark! All of my friends skateboard and its one of the things i like to do for fun. People might think im a bad kid because i wear a backwards flat brim hat, or tight pants, or long t-shirts, and also because they see my friends and I skateboarding at shopping centers, schools, or parking lots. I am the farthest thing from a bad kid, People might think, o, all skaters are trouble makers or potheads or etc... I am a 4.0 student going into 8th grade, I play soccer and lacrosse and i skateboard, i also do community service for the elderly, and I mo neighbors lawns. Just because I skateboard doesnt mean I go across town looking to piss people off and cause trouble. Us skaters are just looking for places to skate, we arent holding anything hostage, thats just crazy talk... we r just doing our thing. If we are told to leave we leave, we dont cause any trouble. My parents dont support me at all, only my grandma because she realizes its what we love to do. Katherine dont say the town cant do "Nothing" because that is untrue... i know a kid named evan rosen and he might not know me, but, he made a petition for smithtown to build a skatepark... thats the least the town can do for us. We are a rich town, we have to stop wasting all our money on stupid projects, we pay alot of money for taxes, we need to do something useful with it and build a skatepark!!!! dont bs us kids we know more than u think we do, smithtown can afford a decent skatepark!!!!

[danny]

hi, i am a skateboarder of smithtown.If you think skateboarders are vandalizing, trespassing, and in conveniencing smithtown it would be a good idea to make a public place to skate or a skatepark so we skaters have a place to do what we love to do. skateboard.