PORT RICHMOND — The third skatepark on Staten Island is giving the borough's boarders another spot to practice kickflips.
The city cut the ribbon on the new space inside Faber Park, which features bowls, rails and staircases for skaters to ride. The park was designed with the help of more than 50 local boarders.
"This park design was inspired by the neighborhood. The stone arches, the terracotta, the roof of Fable Park field and the arch of the Bayonne Bridge," said Mitchell Silver, commissioner for the Parks Department.
"It works, it blends. it fits into the park, it fits into the nature."
The idea to build the park started in 2009 when 14-year-old BMXer Jarred Moller asked former Borough President James Molinaro to build a park in the North Shore at an Arlington Civic Association meeting.
"I wanted a park, I didn't like being on the streets and almost getting hit by a car," Moller said.
Molinaro allocated $1.7 million to the project that takes over about 1.9 acres of space inside Faber Park.
"Never in my imagination did I expect to see this, this is absolutely gorgeous," Molinaro said about the feature's design. "It fits in the park like it was always here, like the park needed it."
The Faber Park Skatepark is the third in the borough, joining the Benjamin Soto Skatepark in Midland Beach and the indoor 5050 Skatepark in Stapleton.
Moller, now 18 and a senior at Port Richmond High School, said he couldn't believe him asking a simple question led to the park being built, but he was excited to try the results.
"It's pretty outstanding, I can't believe I did it," he said. "The community people are going to enjoy it and we're going to ride it."
