Iconic skateboard bench arrives in Philadelphia after being stolen from NYC park
PHILADELPHIA - A piece of skateboarding lore was brought to North Philadelphia after it was stolen from a park in New York City.
A group of masked skaters reportedly used a rental truck to haul the 13-foot, 300 pound metal bench from Tompkins Square Park in Manhattan to Cecil B. Moore Plaza.
Since the heist, skaters from across the Delaware Valley have flocked to Philadelphia to make their mark on a piece of skateboarding history.
"Every skater that is a true skater knows what this thing is, and it’s cool they got it down from New York to Philly, so we can get a chance to do some stuff on it," Donny Hixon from New Jersey said.
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The bench's legacy started in Southern California in the 90s, since then it's been ridden by the best skaters and featured in ads, videos and movies.
"It’s like historic just the fact, so many skaters have skated it in the past and so much cool stuff has been done, people are like ‘whoa I want to be a part of this!’," Jack Zebertavage said.
The bench was brought to New York City in October as part of a promotion, just close enough for some mischievous local skaters to concoct a plan to swipe it.
A metal bench considered by skateboarders to be a piece of history was stolen from a New York City park and brought to North Philadelphia for local skaters to enjoy.
"I hope the skaters in New York aren’t too mad because I want to be cool with them," Louis Gelo from North Philadelphia said.
It's unknown how long the bench will stay in North Philadelphia, but local skaters hope they can share the wealth and ship it off to Europe for their international peers.
"Hopefully this makes its way to Europe, we need the homies in Europe to skate this thing," one skater said.