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UES Teen Launches Business Selling Skateboards to Brooklyn Stores

By Shaye Weaver | February 22, 2016 5:50pm
 High School Senior Laszlo Jeliasazcic sells his skateboards online and at the East River Skate Shop.
An Upper East Side Teenager Sells His Own Skateboards
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UPPER EAST SIDE — When he's not flipping ollies at a skate park or taking classes at Chelsea's Quest to Learn High School, 17-year-old Laszlo Jeliasazcic is building a business — one board at a time.

The Upper East Side resident has been working to build his brand of skateboards and accessories called Nicest Skateboards by taking his custom-designed boards to stores in Brooklyn and Queens, hoping to convince them to sell them or at least to get the name out there, he said.

So far, Jeliasazcic has created three skateboard designs, including a retro-looking one with the word "Nicest" written on it, a black and white board with a depiction of the Lower East Side skate park, and a colorful board with girls on a beach.

The designs are largely inspired by the city's street art, and when Jeliasazcic is struck with an idea, he works with local artist Ryan Scott to bring it to life, he said.

"I wanted to change the way board brands are," Jeliasazcic said on Friday. "I wanted to make cool designs that support local artists and for a cheap cost."

Typically, boards with simple logos on them can go for as much as $60, but Jeliasazcic's boards are priced between $25 and $30, he said.

He's able to keep the cost down by letting customers assemble the boards themselves. He buys the board parts wholesale from Control Skateboards, and then manually presses the images he designs onto the blank boards, he explained.

Jeliasazcic currently sells his boards online and at Greenpoint's East River Skate Shop. In January, he walked into the skate shop and pitched his brand to the manager Jad Allen-Magaziner — instantly impressing the long-time skater.

"He blew my mind," Allen-Magaziner said. "He talks to you like he knows his s---. He's a hard-working, understands-it dude that gets that he's not going to make a million dollars on skateboarding."

Allen-Magaziner said he wanted to help Jeliasazcic grow his brand and foster his passion for it so he bought some of his boards to sell at his shop.

Jeliasazcic then thanked Allen-Magaziner and told him that he was the first to take a chance on his dream, the manager said.

"You can't help but get choked up," Allen-Magaziner said. "I totally back him 100 percent."

The Fashion Institute of Technology hopeful — he expects to find out if he got in by March — is eventually hoping to expand the brand to include skate accessories, starting with a simple "Nicest" T-Shirt, Jeliasazcic said.

"Right now it's just a hobby but it'd be pretty cool if it could expand into something more," he said.

"Every teen should pursue what they have fun with and not let anything stand in the way. I want to prove that you can make anything happen and you don't have to be special."