RIP

Andy Kessler, a prominent figure on the New York skateboarding scene of the late seventies and early eighties, has died, according to Skateboarder magazine, which reports that the cause was an allergic reaction to a hornet sting the skateboarder suffered in Montauk. Kessler, who designed many of the city's skate parks, including those at Riverside Park, Pier 40, and in Brooklyn, was profiled in New York in 2005. "Everyone has their choice Kessler story," David Browne reported. "Like the day he refused to move to the back of a crowded bus, telling the driver, “You move to the back. This place is a sardine can. I’ll drive the bus.”

The skaters aimed full speed at the concave wood. “They were these sick, sick guys,” recalls Ricky Mujica. “Fifty percent of the time they’d kill themselves.”

“The next thing we know,” recalls Mujica, “Andy is thrown out by the driver, and his skateboard comes flying out after him. People didn’t like skateboarders back then.” After chasing the bus for four blocks, Kessler smashed the window with his board. Then there was the time Kessler refused to don a helmet at a skate park in New Jersey and was chased by guards trying to force him to wear one. Fights were commonplace. “I was a good skateboarder,” Kessler admits, “but a real prick to most people.”


Not really, though. Per Skateboarder: "He will be greatly missed."

ANDY KESSLER RIP [Skateboarder]