BILLY ROHAN: I ended up coming to New York, the first time I
was about 14.
I liked it.
You got up here and you could do whatever.
The funnest thing is when you see someone that's an amazing
skateboarder from California, and you take them and you push
straight down 14th street, all the way across Manhattan.
And at the end of it, they're like, I don't see how you guys
fucking do this shit.
And you're like, what, dude?
Let's go to Midtown.
It's awesome.
There's nowhere else like it in the US.
PATRICK O'DELL: Hi, welcome back to the show.
This episode, we followed Billy Rohan around.
Billy's originally from Florida, but he moved to New
York and has since become a fixture in the
New York skate scene.
We just had him show us around a little bit, show us where
spots are and stuff, and just talked about skateboarding.
BILLY ROHAN: Basically, this is Tompkins Square Park.
It's a park here in the Lower East Side where people meet up
and skateboard.
I've seen everything from kids getting hit with spiked bats
out here to dudes throwing shit at people.
Basically, it's the craziest place I've ever seen as far as
what random shit can happen here on a day-to-day basis.
One of the best memories I have here, though, was during
the blackout, when the blackout in New York happened.
It was insane because all the skateboarders didn't know what
was going on the first hour or two of it.
People were like, what?
Are we having a terrorist attack?
What the hell's going on?
And for some reason, everybody decided let's go to the TF.
So we're here skating, and then mass amounts of people
just start showing up.
And once everybody knew it wasn't a terrorism attack, it
turned into this big party.
You get some funny people here.
You get dudes visiting all the way from California.
I've seen kids here from New Zealand, Australia.
And to be honest with you, this is the worst place to
skate in New York.
There's millions of spots all over the place.
And people get lazy.
That's the reason they come here.
Because you could just skate with your friends and not do
shit all day.
But really, New York City has way more to offer.
That's why today we're going to go to Houston Park and then
go to the Banks afterwards, to actually show more
than just the TF.
This is my really good friend Quim Cardona.
He owns Sushi Wheels.
He's a professional skateboarder.
Quim Cardona.
QUIM CARDONA: My name is Quim Cardona.
I'm from New Jersey, born and raised.
But New York is my second home.
And our purpose out here in the park today is to just show
you guys around, give you a little teaser,
you know what I mean?
But if you really want to experience the true skate
street skate life, come and check it out yourself.
You know how to contact us.
My email, everything is there.
Peace.
BILLY ROHAN: Quim Cardona's been around for years, killing
it on the skate scene here in New York and New Jersey.
We used to be teammates with Zoo York.
I never wanted to skate for anybody except for Zoo York.
Growing up in Florida and the whole East Coast thing, I
always thought Zoo was the sickest company.
But since I had went pro when I was young, it was like, are
they going to give me a board?
Or am I just going to be this weird
in-between dude on the team?
And I was left on the table.
Like hey, are we going to give this guy a board?
Is he going to be selling boards like the Gonz?
That's like saying, hey, is my friend's garage band, it's
sick, going to be the new Beatles?
You can't just ask that question.
There's one Gonz, and then there's everybody else.
I don't feel bitter towards anybody, really.
I'm upset at myself for decisions that
I made in the past.
We all have problems, and a problem for
me is I can't drink.
I can't go and get fucked up like everybody else because it
affects me differently.
IAN REID: Yeah, once there was a rumor that he was drunk in
London and got accosted by the cops.
And to prove he wasn't drunk, he jumped on the hood of their
car and did a backflip off of it.
And they arrested him.
And that's what led to his mental demise.
BILLY ROHAN: I was like, no, I'm not drunk.
And I ran up to the car and did a backflip.
And that didn't fly well.
So they put me right into a mental hospital,
which was fucked up.
They put me on medications in there that I wouldn't want my
worst enemy to have to take.
But it was a fucked up place.
And you don't know when you're going to get out.
Nobody spoke English.
I made a mistake.
Nobody's perfect.
So I didn't mess around for about five years.
And that's when everything worked back out with
skateboarding and with Zoo York, coming
up to New York filming.
Everything was all good.
And then, as soon as my friend Harold Hunter
died, that set it off.
And it just hurt, dude, so bad.
I tried to play it like it was all cool, but I
ended up going home.
And I hadn't drank in five years.
And I just bought a bunch of wine and just got fucked up.
When Harold died, that day, we're supposed to meet up.
I get off of work.
I'm calling him, no answer.
Get a call from my sponsor from Instant Winner, and the
dude's like, Billy, did you hear what happened to Harold?
And I was like, no, I can't get in touch with him.
He's like, Harold's dead.
He died.
I get there, it's a big mess.
Everybody's crying.
He's still laying in bed, and he's dead.
And I'd never seen a dead body before.
And like this is a person that has made me laugh.
He was one of the only dudes that was like, yo fuck them
niggers, Billy.
If they think you're crazy, you're crazy.
But come up, skate, don't do no shit, don't fuck up.
Just be crazy, but don't get in trouble.
And so I was like, all right, cool.
I had one person that had my back, basically.
And he's laying in bed, and he's dead, with
a grin on his face.
I never even knew a pro skateboarder that had died,
much less a friend.
It was like, you think of these people as immortal.
They're different.
HAROLD HUNTER: [INAUDIBLE].
BILLY ROHAN: It just got to me after Harold died.
And now I feel better about it.
I know he's in a better place.
But I hadn't drank in years, and I knew what
happens when I drink.
I end up getting in trouble, and shit's all fucked up.
I can't forget that skateboarding is what I do.
It's my all.
That's what makes me have fun in this world.
Fuck all this bullshit.
Let's go skate the Banks.
I think what made skateboarding so different
from any other activity or sport is that you could just
be yourself.
I skate because it's fun.
I'm not making any money off skateboarding.
But that doesn't mean I'm going to quit skating and get
a track bike and find myself.
Just do you.
That's what Harold told me.
Do you, kid.