If you search “worst skatepark in New York City,” there’s a good chance Brower Skatepark in Crown Heights comes up.

I’d heard the reputation, and I wanted to see for myself.

Short answer: it’s pretty dilapidated, but still a good time.

The Vibe

Brower Skatepark sits inside Brower Park, and the park itself is genuinely beautiful — lots of grass, people playing basketball, someone on saxophone, someone on guitar. The whole scene had an easy, peaceful energy to it.

Personally, that’s one of the most important factors of a skatepark for me: how’s the vibe around it? This one gets an A+.

The most iconic moment of my session was a guy rolling through selling “Ice Cold Mother F—’n Water” for a “One Mother F—in’ dollar”. Legendary.

The Skatepark Itself

Pulling up, you can immediately see that the ground has seen better days. It looks like someone haphazardly poured cement over asphalt. There are cracks, leaves, twigs — the surrounding trees give the spot beautiful golden light filtering through, but they also leave debris all over the ground.

You have to stay a bit mindful of the cracks, but with that said, I still found the park to be pretty skate-able and fun. It feels more like skating your middle school friend’s sh*tty driveway than skating a proper skatepark — but in a way it has a nostalgic factor because of that.

The obstacles are a mix: some cemented-in features like a center piece you can ollie up, an out ledge, and a cement bank that’s genuinely fun. There are also prefab elements — the same ledges you’ve probably seen at other NYC parks — and then a bunch of stuff people have just brought and plopped in over time. A long ride-on shotgun rail that I was having a blast on, a slappy curb, a handful of rails. It’s got character.

The volcano is probably the most noticeable feature — but the cracks on it were bad enough that you could really only safely skate one side, and the transition was gnarlier than it looked.

The Verdict

Is it a perfectly designed skatepark? Not even close. Would fresh smooth cement make it significantly better? Absolutely.

But here’s the thing — skating Brower reminded me of finishing school and going to skate your homie’s driveway. A wooden ramp, a metal rail someone dragged out, a wooden ledge, and just vibing. That energy is actually kind of hard to find. The cracks and the roughness add a nostalgic factor that a pristine skatepark just doesn’t have.

For what it is, I had a genuinely fun session.

Go check it out.
And I’ll catch you soon for the next skatepark review.

GP

P.S. According to this post from over a year ago, Brower Park will be getting a re-do after all—and the proposed design looks pretty dope. I’ll be sure to check it out and update this post as soon as it’s done.