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You Told Us: Critics of Skateboarders at UWS Plaza Should 'Get a Life'

By Emily Frost | November 2, 2015 7:30pm
 Residents said they're not bothered by skateboarders at Frederick Douglass Circe.
Residents said they're not bothered by skateboarders at Frederick Douglass Circe.
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DNAinfo/Emily Frost

You Told Us is a regular feature highlighting comments from people in the communities DNAinfo covers.

UPPER WEST SIDE — By and large, readers weren't bothered by skateboarders using the public plaza at at West 110th Street and Central Park West as their playground, describing critics of the skaters as grumpy and "a bunch of cranks."

One commenter even told the skateboard-haters to "Get a life, people!" 

Locals said Frederick Douglass Circle is underutilized and that skateboarders weren't a problem. They weighed in on the issue on Neighborhood Square:

► "This sounds like a bunch of cranks who need to move out of the city. What's the problem? It's great to have activity there, and it's a public plaza ill used otherwise. Let the kids be," said a Neighborhood Square user. 

► "Thank god someone is using this 'park.' I had never seen another person in it until the skateboarders started showing up. Leave them be!" wrote another commenter. 

Others thought skateboarding was a good, healthy use of kids' time:

► "As for these skateboarders - isn't it good that they're not inside, playing video games, or worse? They are exercising and having fun, and generally in out of the way spots, not in the middle of a lot of foot traffic...Get a life, people!" a user added.  

► "I doubt these kids have 'destroyed' anything...So many other bad things they could be doing...so many other 'bigger fish to fry'...so many people with too much time on their hands to complain about this...This is a healthy activity that should be supported by parks dept and nypd," another commenter wrote. 

► "Do they represent such a danger to your way of life you wish eliminate our outlets and brand us criminals and vandals? Just because your discourse and discontent is louder & grumpier, it doesn't make it more right by any means," one more user added to the chorus. 

At least one person thought it should be designated a skate park:

► "How about just designating it as a skate-friendly location? The skaters could offer clinics for the elderly grumps across the street," said a Neighborhood Square user. 

However, a lone voice in the discussion pointed out the possible danger posed by skateboarding:

► "Eventually someone will be hurt when an errant skate breaks someone ankle and there will be a lawsuit or the owners can be proactive and take care of it now," the Neighborhood Square user said.