Wip’s ‘Back to the Banks’
Last week, Wip, a pouch company redefining caffeine consumption with natural caffeine pouches, hosted a skate event in the recently renovated Brooklyn Banks. A celebration of a spot forever cemented in skate history, ‘Back to the Banks’ remains a competition built in a DIY format. With minimal buildup, the event had the feel of a street meet on steroids. DJs Smoke LES and BAMBII set the pace for over 2,000 skaters and spectators.
Photos by Jonathan Mehring
A handful of skate legends were in attendance. Jefferson Pang, Kelly Hart, Bob Reynolds, and Jamie Reyes paid tribute to skate royalty of the past; alongside the next generation of competitors like Olympian Jake Illardi, pro skaters Marc Suciu, Leo Heinert, and Jiro Platt, and local legend Aamir Williams.
Photos by Jonathan Mehring
The setting made it special. The Brooklyn Banks, nestled beneath the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge, began as a patch of urban planning rather than a deliberate skatepark. Built in the 1970s as part of a civic plaza, its brick banks, handrails, and stair sets were intended for pedestrians. Skateboarders quickly realized the sloping bricks provided a rare combination of texture, incline, and open space.
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Photos by Jonathan Mehring
By the 1980s, it had become an unofficial landmark of New York skate culture, featured in countless videos and magazines, serving as a meeting point for everyone from local kids to pros on tour. The Banks’ rough geometry and distinctive red brick made it instantly recognizable, an anti-smooth counterpart to the West Coast’s concrete perfection.
Photos by Jonathan Mehring
In 2010, the city closed the area for bridge restoration, and for over a decade the Banks lingered in limbo, its surface fenced off and overgrown but never forgotten. Skaters and advocates, most visibly Steve Rodriguez, campaigned relentlessly for its return, arguing that a city defined by its concrete deserved to keep one of its most storied slabs.
Photos by Jonathan Mehring
The 2025 reopening, backed by Gotham Park and Tony Hawk’s Skatepark Project, was less a comeback than a public acknowledgment of what had long been true: the Banks were not a niche skate spot but a piece of New York infrastructure, as culturally loaded as the bridge above it.
Photos by Jonathan Mehring
‘Back to the Banks’ celebrated the gritty ethos of the spot, while showcasing its new renovation. The return marks a new chapter for Brooklyn Banks, ensuring that its legacy continues to shape the future of skateboarding in NYC. Wip recognized the importance of not only supporting but also protecting the integrity of epic experiences like these. You can learn more about the event and see additional highlights on WIP’s Instagram, here.
