JENKEM - The Evolution of... Miami's MLK Ledges

We’ve previously only profiled New York City spots for this video segment, but seeing as there is an entire skate world outside of New York, we figured it was time we got off our asses and traveled more than 45 minutes to visit an out-of-town spot.
For the fifth installment of “Evolution of…” we sent our filmer / good homie Richard Quintero to his hometown of Miami, Florida to check out the MLK Ledges. Like other good skate spots in big cities, it’s not in the safest part of town and there are a few factors that make it just a tiny bit less than perfect, but it still has a lot to offer in terms of history and skateability.
Richard was able to get in touch with Forrest Kirby, Kenny Anderson, and Zered Bassett to piece together a little oral history of notable tricks that have gone down at the spot, along with some tales of sketchy run-ins with locals.
This spot has fallen out of favor with the more recent generation who was spoiled by skateparks, but hopefully these tales will inspire kids to try some NBD ledge combos and film a sponsor me tape just like the good ol’ days.
Absorb some spot history in the video above and yell at us below if you’ve got a spot you want us to profile, especially if it’s outside of NYC. We could use some travel days. (Just make sure it’s not only available in THPS.)
Filmed/edited by: Richard Quintero
MORE INFO: www.jenkemmag.c...

[@joshbarth9469]

This series is dope. More.

[@WolfWould]

That switch flip was so perfect. Leveled but tweaky. 🔥

[@MrZakkyyy]

Best series, don't stop. I'll bet that spot is so crusty in real life

[@dessyyyh]

Jimmy Russels I’m from Miami and that spot is indeed as crusty as you are thinking. Still a lot of fun to skate though.

[@llamov]

Years ago i was down there and i passed it. It is indeed hood as fuck. And this is an awesome series

[@Jeramithehuman]

Not that bad. The brick double set angle ledge down the street is way more ghetto or the ledges in over town at the basketball court are crucial

[@beaumaddern6606]

The epicly later’d of spots

[@hlacoille]

Seeing Harold Hunter brought me back to watching those vids. RIP homie

[@zacvotruba8374]

Bout to put on some skate maps

[@chetchelios7614]

A true legend he is. RIP

[@Jeramithehuman]

Broke my collar bone there. Thanks KFC across the street for the free ice through the bullet proof glass one cup at a time

[@kevincollins8620]

Hahaha. Damn

[@Jeramithehuman]

Kevin Collins terrible 6 months from that

[@dankjeenyus]

wooooow, Forest Kirby... Have not seen this guy is ages..Legend.

[@nicmarley12241990]

Seeing Forrest Kirby look old makes me realize I’m getting old af

[@graftonholler6029]

wait til you see him look gay

[@ContumaciousBoy]

Most underrated skate channel on the tube

[@dbm9455]

This spot will always remind me of Colt Cannons part in Circa It’s Time

[@kmrskates]

THANK YOU! I was hoping they would touch on Circa riders having clips there in It's Time

[@TheNotoriousBIF]

Define irony… MLK Jr. was a man of peace, yet the streets and monuments that bear his name are ofter the grimiest and most dangerous parts of town.

[@spencert4840]

Chris rock said that in his stand up

[@patrickderp1044]

@Soon Forgot miami is almost all hispanic, the 2010 census showed that very spot they are skating is already changing over

[@josie5144]

@Jake wonder what the problem is hope its not something stupidly biased or racist or just plain wrong

[@yommish]

poverty breeds crime

[@timsix561]

One of my favorite spots growing up skating Miami for sure

[@timsix561]

Even though that ground was f**ked and the edges of the ledges were rough

[@papichai73]

@@timsix561 Thats with all the good ledge spots down here tbh tho... coconut grove metro ledges *Cough cough*

[@chfour83]

Yo my dude I remember this spot like it was yesterday skateboarding with you Brad Beck Ryan Kevin huff and Ray back in the day good times good stuff

[@timsix561]

@@chfour83 for sure I still remember those days..those were Good times my G

[@eldrs-]

Jenkem doing heros work !

[@petersusia1]

Really like this series

[@sillyserpantines]

Thank you Jenkem. Keep doing what you do. Long time fan.

[@TheSoundstereo]

KIRBY!!!!!!!

[@robleymcdonnell]

You could do 10 minutes of sketchy stories from that yellow banked out ledge in the hood

[@Jeramithehuman]

Yes bro I have a good story of that place. We were skating it and noticed this black dude selling something and kept going to this little black pouch behind the run up. So it started to rain and the guy jumped in the back of a truck and left. I saw where he was burying the pouch with money every time he made a sale. Started the car then ran over and uncovered the pouch, we all thought there was money in it... boy were we wrong. It was filled with 80 bags of crack and 20 bags of white and 20 bags of brown powder. Needless to say we didn’t go back there for at least 6 months. Have found bullet casings and needles there every time we’ve gone lol. They should do a bunch more of these videos all spots off of mlk road like ghetto school and stuff

[@shanebreezy4453]

@@Jeramithehuman please tell me you atleast took it all.. lol thats a big comeup

[@Jeramithehuman]

Shane Breezy of course. I wasn’t gonna bring it back. Mind you I’m like 18 at the time and 31 now. Ended up selling the whole thing to a another black guy couple weeks later

[@BZA_]

Kirby a OG

[@thegatorgar6730]

I.could.watch.these.all.day. And I have.

[@Beltway]

kirby rules

[@willpower322]

Billy Rohan with the sick frontside flip

[@rew-vmDOTcom]

I’m surprised y’all did MLK and not Allapattah station. Most of Miami Dade’s train stations got fire spots

[@timsix561]

Or Civic center

[@Jeramithehuman]

Or earlington heights. I think that’s how it’s spelled? lol the civic center is dope tho. The line Kerry Getz does in photosynthesis I did that same line

[@Jeramithehuman]

Could you do one of these pieces for all the famous spots in Miami like triangle park, ADP, ghetto school jungle stuff like that. I feel like it could be a 20+ video series. This is seriously the best skateboarding channel!!! Nothing better than learning the history of places. Kids now don’t realize back in the early 2000’s all we had was seeing these spots in thrasher or on VHS tape so you had to make a weekend just finding people skating and roll up to them and be like hey y’all know where Arto does all the crook and switch crooks on those wooden benches type stuff?? You would end up making friends that live all around the state and you could share spots with them.

That switch flip bro. He should be on every skaters mind with that thing.

[@hiddenvoice27]

Favorite series on Jenkem no doubt, love hearing about NYC spots of course but it's cool that you're expanding outward! Would be awesome to see an episode for Boston at some point, maybe eggs or AQ.

[@SE-ZESS]

So much harder to skate than it looked. Meinholz, Andre, and Abe Bethel skated there first. It’s a TOUGH corner. Locals were usually chill.

[@timszarek1793]

Dude just makes me reflect on all the spots in Manchester NH✌🏻

[@UrbanLikwid]

Zered killing it and still in the game killing it!

[@prstoxbeats4734]

Harold Hunter!!!!!!💯 rip

[@Luv345]

Love forest

[@iamnotanumber100]

Love this series 🤘

[@fatalcapsaicin5157]

Cool series

[@AlexWitkowski]

this series is awesome, quality shit jenkem

[@PotatoPlop]

Rog at 3:38

[@kmrskates]

Solid find!! He's in everyone's clips. Hahzh

[@kmrskates]

Hahahah*

[@LurkMe]

I vaguely remember skating here. Another good ledge spot is at that basketball court over the bridge in... overtown. Another place to bounce the fuck out of when it turns dark

[@-mv]

That fs flip was too fucking casual lmao

[@crazycarlsadventures5983]

Damn I wanted to see that Adrian Lopez line from dying to live with that sick switch 360 flip

[@c0m4g1bb]

Crazycarls adventures at that spot? Off the plaque or... What?

[@crazycarlsadventures5983]

No it was his opening line in the video

[@jeremylamovsky942]

I remember being in Miami years ago and driving past this spot and going "wait that's that spot...fuck it's HOOD right here..." haha, harold inspired ripped off sleeves and wrist bands

[@HARDL3FT]

I remember a Zoo York ad where Forrest did a varial heel flip on the gap. Surprised it wasn't mentioned.

[@Yungbeck]

I love skate lore like this!!!

[@bryanbreezy]

Love this series

[@netnavigator3264]

I have that footage somewhere in VHS cassette... Felix used a KFC bucket to hide the camera. Used to watch it over and over. Kenny was my favorite.

[@ER_aka_RAM]

MIA is a battlefield... funny how we couldn’t find anything away from the hood to SK8!

[@zblackburnnn352]

PLEASE KEEP MAKING THESE.

[@tweekedmobb1789]

the courthouse has a lot of good history & a lot of evolution as far as the atmosphere

[@tweekedmobb1789]

the venice pits would be interesting too

[@derekperc]

I remember Wenning had those 2 tricks (2:38) in his DC part then FORE did the same 2 tricks on the same ledge switch in his next part.

[@danm1319]

Thank you!

[@Arthur0ne]

What the hell? Miami has a metro?

[@papichai73]

Yup i use it every time im tryna skate down town

[@neverwoner]

Hell yeah bihh

[@Hardbody94]

yea it runs downtown area and south miami, all the way to dadeland

[@daze3o5]

yeah, but it's pretty much one line

[@Jeramithehuman]

Yea but it cost money. The people mover in DT is free but closes at like 2-3am

[@thestrangeceleb]

Damnnnn... Haven't seen Forrest in ages. GPM Life building, represent!

[@Surfmus]

Forrest looks like Canelo.

[@chadskates6175]

Such a good series. You guys should do one on the oside hubba!

[@phoenixrvr517]

did jamie tancowny not tre flip this spot? correct me if i’m wrong could b a past or future documented clip. definitely an evolution we love forest !!

[@TonyNguyenFR]

Good shit Jenkem.

[@grahamarms8247]

This is a sick series. You guys should do Love Park or muni at some point

[@nickathalis2463]

I'm going there this weekend

[@knyghtryder3599]

Best skate city

[@mikeatl6367]

I'm turning 40 next month...it's fly's by. Enough it Young men and ladies!

[@matiasnaulin9889]

Good clips! Sick spot, always hating going to it haha!

[@AlexGordonMusic]

Kirby is a fucking rad human being. NY 🤙🏻

[@timr5185]

Thin like the 4 block Arto FS flipped and switch FS flipped in Sorry....plus the wall on the left side. Classic spot though

[@Jeramithehuman]

Have you been there? It’s wayyy bigger in person than the video

[@oniongummy8969]

F.O.R.E.

[@petepete9831]

F.0.R.E. and friends ....

[@Jeramithehuman]

Wow what memories

[@yungdaggervick6789]

Make more of these pls

[@CarolinaChoppers]

Damn Forrest looking like a Florida local

[@leftlegcemetery]

"It's the hood bro, I dunno!"

[@jimmyTHPS]

forrest kirby had the best style ever

[@felixcournoyer6085]

nice video

[@jalen1973]

It's the hood bro, I don't know.

[@KC-dg9pu]

In 2003 kickflipped off one of the ledges and this little kid there asked me if i was pro and i told him i was

[@angelomoreno6018]

Do chaffey! If u haven’t yet

[@snufkin4374]

I live next to that

[@CraveThatCoin]

I always remember this guys 411vm part, amazing. Nice to see he's still ripping

[@MarginWalker]

Dango!

[@matls6606]

Do peace park . Ledges and the park . In Montreal 😘

[@JK-qv8sv]

Bum fights, overdoses and people shitting on the ground there, I thinks it's cleaned up a bit in the last half decade or so. Legendary spot

[@rocketair78]

FORE 💪🏼

[@euminkong]

FORE AND FRIENDS

[@wakenbake.]

more more more more

[@luban1045]

Still waiting for Hanging out with Sean Pablo ❤️

[@sruijc5250]

ya u can see on that switch flip that the board had 0 pop that deck was DEAD and he still made that shit BAANG

[@fbshiloh777]

do a portland oregon spot plz

[@CrystalVortex]

Fantastic series! Was waiting for the perfect switch flip nosemanual fakie tre Forrest did, was an opener in one of the later 411s IIRC

[@micheallangan1529]

Some of the best sk8 spots are in the hood. True story.

[@mouman]

Omg thanks for putting the hottest bear in there Jenkem! Happy pride month.

[@MrJohnnyb74]

F.O.R.E. and Friends

[@johnnyc.3261]

Damn, what happened to Reda? He’s the sickest dude

[@gabrielariano8770]

big time photographer

[@coltonwern5252]

Do evo el toro

[@max_greene]

Forest been eating a bit too much kfc lol 😂 I now Dan Murphy had bangers there 🛹🙌🏼

[@KC-dg9pu]

Was there years ago with a friend and I kickflipped off one of the ledges. Then my friend nose manualed one of them. A kid saw us and asked us if we were pro and we told him we were

[@timsix561]

I watched someone pulling a knife at one of my homies there one time because we were being loud while he was like sleeping/laying on one of the ledges and my homie skated by him and like put a knife to his face so he like bolted back to metro lol and another time their was a kid that faceplanted on his bike from trying to ride off the ledge lol I'm pretty sure Forrest and Brian wenning were there when that happened and acouple others lol and someone took there shirt off there back to stop him from bleeding...kid like knocked his two front teeth out.. it was crazy lol then like 3 big ass dudes were running across the street and we thought we were gonna get fucked up thinking we were like robbing some kids are some shit but it was his son and he was with his buddies..he like thanked us and tried to give the shirt back but they told him to keep it and take him to the hospital his friends grabbed his bike and the father picked him up carried him off... Sorry just had a little MLK flashback lol the bike crash of it was filmed though I do remember that from Scott u.

[@heelturnsface]

Forrest is gettin thicc

[@Mr.paint123]

Forrest gained some weight

[@lambo485]

Go watch ....F.O.R.E and friends skate video ....young skaters of today

[@mentxaka11scoters]

Wow brad pitt

[@patricksalish]

Forrest and Donny barley are the same person I don't care what anyone says Kenny make a loafer

[@lowbudgetproductions1290]

cute ass forrest kirby

[@criszeno777]

Live down the street from there. Not as ghetto as you think

[@chadconnolly1138]

Not anymore, Miami has changed a lot in the last 20 years

[@Hardbody94]

its called gentrification.. its like going to Wynwood and saying its not hood anymore

[@llamov]

If its a truly good spot chances are you can get arrested for skating it, or stabbed because youre in the jungle. If its in miami ita likely the second option i mentioned

[@jcolterh]

I don't believe for a second that anyone ever thought this guy was straight.

[@Nightshade1881]

Fuck being first

[@privateuser7]

Who in their right mind would skate in a ghetto ass area full of violence when there are better ledges in better areas

[@kevincollins8620]

I dont think those ledges were around back then.

[@privateuser7]

@@kevincollins8620 they just said so in the video that they were afraid to even be there when its dark