LOVE For Philadelphia

Kerry Getz Speaks On Love Park’s Past, Present, And Potentially Bright Future

Philadelphia’s Love Park is as sacred to street skating as the links at St. Andrews are to the game of golf. There’s arguably no street spot more famous and influential as the ledges at Love. But Love Park has had a tumultuous past. During the nineties the spot was a hot bed for progressive skating and turned out tons of amazing talent. Ricky Oyola, Matt Reason, Kerry Getz, Josh Kalis, Stevie Williams, Fred Gall, and many others are all native sons of Love. But around 2000 skateboarding was officially banned and anybody caught skating was arrested or ticketed no questions asked. Recently though, there’s been rumors circulating about skateboarding returning to Love.

Few people know the park like Pennsylvania blue blood Kerry Getz. He grew up skating there and still dwells there today—holding down his skate shop, Nocturnal. We caught up with Kerry to see what the rumors are all about and got his take on the park’s history, significance, and potential rebirth.


Gap Out To Nosegrind. Kerry Getz, Love Park. 2008 photo Ryan Gee

What’s your earliest memory of Love Park?

The first time I ever went to Love Park I was there with two of my friends. I remember thinking how awesome it was just cruising around and skating there. My one friend had a brand new Real board and some dude came up to him trying to skate his board and was like, “Yo, can I see your board?” Then some other kid came up and was trying to skate his board too. Before we knew it we were surrounded by all these kids trying to get my friend’s board. One of the kids just took off with it. He fully stole my friend’s board and I was just standing there like, “Holy shit”. That was my first time at Love Park.

What was the vibe like during the heyday? Could anybody show up and skate or would kooks and out-of-towners get vibed and run out?

For me, coming from such a little town and not really being a city guy it was scary. It was a scene that I wasn’t use to and I wasn’t ready for. It took me meeting Mike [Maldonado] and Bam and going to skate there with them to really get love and respect there.

Did you ever see any gnarly fights between skaters?

Not really. I never saw any of that. The board stealing was pretty heavy, though. There were plenty of bum fights, but I never really saw a fight go down there between skaters.


ESPN chose Philadelphia as the site of the 2001 X Games. Kerry Getz was commissioned to Ollie over Philadelphia Mayor John Street in Love Park as part of a promotional campaign for the event. As a vocal advocate for the banishment of skateboarding at Love Park, Mayor Street might just be the most hated guy in all of skateboarding.

Some people say that the scene in the movie Kids where the jogger was beat up by a pack of skateboarders was said to have been inspired by actual events that took place at Love Park. Is there any truth to that?

I personally never saw it, but it probably went down.

Who ruled Love during the heydays?

Definitely Matt Reason, Fred Gall, and Ricky Oyola. Those were the dudes that were putting that spot on the fucking map.

How significant do you feel Love Park was to East Coast skateboarding during the 90s?

I think Love was the most significant spot in terms of building pros. It built Brian Wenning. It built Stevie Williams. It had so much to do with how good they were because they had a spot like that to always skate, film, and do their tricks at. It developed some of the biggest names in skateboarding.


This is a painting that was done by a Philadelphia based artist. Skateboarding and Love Park are clearly one in the same even among people who don’t skate.

What was your most memorable session there?

There were so many good sessions at Love Park. But one that’s pretty memorable was when Wenning switch backside 180’d into the fountain. That was pretty awesome. He took it to the next level. Once people started going switch into the Love gap it was like a whole new era of skating.

Was Vinnie Ponte really the first dude to ollie into the fountain or was it an unsung local hero?

I think Vinnie Ponte was the first person to ollie into the fountain.

When did skateboarding get banned at Love?

It was always illegal to skate there from about 2000 on. But before they put security guards there 24/7, you could skate there and just run from the cops. But anywhere before 2000 you could skate there all the time. When I kickflipped the Love gap I don’t ever remember having to be worried about running from the cops at all. I remember being able to chill there for hours.


According to Kerry, cops like the one pictured above, were a permanent fixture at the park when the skateboarding ban was instituted in 2000. Today, though, there’s less cops and you might even be able to sneak in a few lines.

What was it like when you kickflipped into the fountain? Was it something that you’d been thinking about doing or did you just show up one day and charge it?

I had tried it a week before and I broke my board. I wanted to do it again. I remember the day. It had been raining and the landing was wet. It was just a little puddle but it was still wet. Maldonado was like “if you really want to do it you’ll get some newspaper, get down there, and dry that shit up.” I was like, “you know what, you’re right.” So I went down there, grabbed newspaper out of the trash, soaked it up, and five tries later I was rolling away.

What’s the latest on the Love? Are the rumors of skateboarding being legalized there again true?

I don’t think skateboarding will ever be legal there. But it’s back to being how it used to be where you can still run from the police. When they really banned it there, there was a ranger sitting there 24 hours a day. Now the rangers leave around five or six and on the weekends there’s nobody there. You still have to run from bike cops, though.

Have you been skating there?

Yea, I was there last night actually. Every time I’ve been there there’s been at least twenty or thirty kids hanging out skating.


Spitfire even produced a special Love Park wheel as a tribute to the spot’s significance.

Can you still skate the fountain?

Yea, it’s going to be [skatable] soon. There’s water in it right now. But around October they start draining it.


Rock Of Love. This is a chunk of Love Park taken by DVS employee and Philli native Matt Lipschutz. Love, of course, has not been demolished. Matt just wanted a little piece of Philli in Cali.

What would be your Love Park dream session?

Hopefully my dream session is coming up when I try to double flip the Love gap. I really want to try it. I’m going to see how it goes in October when they drain it. But my dream session would be Wenning being there, Kalis being there, Gee there shooting photos, Maldonado, Bam and everyone just skating and trying shit into the fountain.


Love Park.