Rich Oates at East River Skate Shop (Photo: Nicole Disser)
The sound of skateboards wooshing by triggers some stressful memory nerve in me, tripping me back to high school when I attempted to teach myself to skate, before I fully understood the depths of my unathleticism and hopelessness when it comes to foot-eye coordination. (Speaking of tripping, that’s all I ever did on a skateboard.) But when I walked into Greenpoint’s new skate shop, I was quickly put at ease by owner Rich Oates, a chill guy who talks about skating in a way that makes it seem easy, approachable even.