NEW YORK — There was swimming instead of skating at Williamsbridge Oval Skate Park on Friday night.

“I usually do tricks, but now they got like a lake so I can’t really scooter,” complained rGarry Winthorpe, a regular scooterist at the park.

Heavy rain from Thursday’s thunderstorms and Tropical Storm Elsa that moved through the area Friday morning left behind several inches of rain water in the skate park bowl.

Many skateboarders and scooterist were disappointed the accumulated water kept them from getting in their practice time.

“It looks like an ocean, a lake, like if you got to a pier and you look over and see the green water,” described skateboarder Arianna Castillo.


What You Need To Know

  • Williamsbridge Oval Skate Park was almost filled to the brim flooded with rain water

  • Regulars of the skate park say water does not normally accumulate after heavy rainfall

  • The parks department said it was working to clear the water, and planned to have the problem fixed in the next few days

Regulars of the skate park said they never saw it flood like this before. Normally after heavy rain, there are just a few puddles that dry up on their own and it the park is never unusable because of flooding.

The closure was upsetting for many who waited more than a decade for the skate park to open.

“There are tons of skate boarders that come every day, and bikers and scooters and, yeah, where are they going to go now?” questioned Al Lugo, who comes to the park regularly with his son.

The city parks department said it was working to clear the accumulated water, and planned to have the problems fixed in the next few days.

“I have been seeing a lot of like flooding in all of New York City, and it has been really bad and I noticed it has been majorly effecting the Bronx community and Harlem,” Castillo said. “It is very, very sad because I feel like it is kind of linked to climate change in a way and it is pretty shocking seeing this.”

The parks department said it cordoned off the area for safety, but that did not stop people from taking a dip in the water:

 

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