GREENPOINT — A month after a father of two was killed while skateboarding in Manhattan, his skate shop remains open, run by one dedicated friend as a way to honor his legacy.
Richard Oates, 32, who was crushed by a truck on the Lower East Side when he slipped under its wheels while hitching a ride on his skateboard on Jan. 12, was the owner of East River Skate Shop, a boarding shop that opened up in at 86 Greenpoint Ave. just a few months before his death.
The future of the shop that Oates ran, almost single-handedly, was thrust into uncertainty, his friends said at the time.
But Jad Allen-Magaziner, 29, who has since taken over as a full-time manager at East River Skate Shop, was determined to keep the shop open.
"I got this phone call that just f----ng rocked my world," said Allen-Magaziner, one of Oates' best friends, "I don't think it's really sunk in, I've just hit the ground running and haven't stopped."
Oates' widow Marisa and several friends met soon after his death to figure what to do with the store, according to Michael Becker, who does public relations for the store.
Everyone agreed Allen-Magaziner, who had managed board shops in the past, would be a perfect fit to run East River Skate Shop, said Becker, who was working with Oates before he died to launch Frontside Agency, a management agency for skateboarder and street artists.
"He's been managing it well," said Becker, who added that Allen-Magaziner is keeping detailed notes about purchases, clients and brands. "I'm not meticulous like that. He's managing it the right way."
In the days leading up to Oates' death, Allen-Magaziner was working photography jobs and was about to start up a line of hand-crafted leather products, he said.
But all that got put on hold the day Oates died.
"If the doors aren't open the store's not going to be afloat," Allen-Magaziner said, adding that keeping the store up and running became his central focus.
"I want to keep these doors open, I want his legacy to live on," said Allen-Magaziner, who smiled when he imagined the moment, "when [Rich's sons] come in and this place is here. The first time when they're older, when they walk in they're going see what their father built."
Allen-Magaziner wants to grow and preserve the skateboarding family that Oates had just begun to create, he said.
He plans to do that by selling skater-made products — they just started selling boards made by a 17-year-old from the Upper East Side — as well as advocating for the boarders that promote their store.
They're also going to host events at the shop and offer a warm and community-oriented environment, where anyone, even a novice skater can feel welcome.
"[Oates] built something great," Allen-Magaziner said.
