New York City has a way of guiding you toward the people you’re meant to find.

When Mel and I first started skating together, we were just two girls from The Bronx searching for freedom in a city that never stops moving. Skating was our reset button. We skate the same way some people journal: to process life, take a breath, and express ourselves. We met through the natural magnetism that skateboarders have for one another, an unspoken language of head nods, dap-ups, and celebratory board taps. And every time we showed up to the park with our skateboards, Yerba Madre, headphones blasting, and hearts open, we’d notice and compliment each other’s style, warmth, and talent on and off the board. Skateboarding helped us discover ourselves while exploring the worlds in and beyond The Bronx.


But the more we skated, the more we noticed who was missing from the space. It was the girls who wanted to try but felt intimidated, the women who already loved to skate, but didn’t feel welcome, and the people who craved a sense of community, but weren’t sure where to find it. That feeling wasn’t foreign to us either—we’d lived through it too, which made it easy to recognize in others.

Over time, we noticed that even a small gesture, like a wave or a quick intro, had a big impact. So we started to prioritize these small moments of connection to help young women push through fear at the skatepark.

Our community spread quickly through these small gestures. At first, it was just a group of friends, acquaintances, and strangers hanging out and skating at local parks. Then it became monthly sessions and events across New York City. Now, we’re a full-blown community of skaters, artists, students, creatives, and people who want to belong in a place where they feel supported and celebrated.



That’s how Bronx Girls Skate began. Not with a blueprint or a business strategy, but with hope for community and connection. What united us was a shared dream of creating space for women, girls, and gender-expansive skaters to show up exactly as they are and be embraced with open arms.

But building this family also taught us that even safe places can take time to truly feel like home.

When we first started, each skater followed their own rituals. Some stretched on the grass to warm up, others doodled to get the creative juices flowing, while others would simply put on their headphones before dropping in.

But after months of skating and cheering each other on, we began to come together after our individual rituals. Nowadays, when someone lands a trick, the whole crew erupts with cheers. And when someone falls, we’re all there to help them up.

Through it all, Yerba Madre became part of the rhythm. We send it, fall, get back up, take another sip, and try again.


When the goal is to build this community, we go from existing in separate worlds to a collective spirit that feels alive and in motion. The heart of Bronx Girls Skate lives in these exact transitions, when we move from “me” to “we” and from individual motion to shared momentum.

That momentum has carried us forward, to explore each borough's skate spots, to weave through Central Park runners and bikers, or to find ourselves back at home in the Bronx, where the familiar cracks in the concrete welcome us home. Everywhere we go, our chosen family comes along. And over time, skateboarding transformed the city into a soft place for us to land.

It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come.

Whether we’re meeting up to skate, collaborating on creative projects, or enjoying a shared meal, the spirit of Bronx Girls Skate continues long after the session has ended. When we skate into the sun now, we’re not just skating for ourselves. We are carving space for everyone who’s ever felt like they didn’t belong.

In our world, movement is magic, and everyone is welcome to join in. Now we’re in the middle of something beautiful built by two people who believed in each other as much as they believed in a dream.