By Anthony Rifilato
Since its doors opened last March, owners Thomas Kinirons, 28, and Rob Cuccio, 27, have created a "strictly skateboards" shop with all the amenities a skater could dream of: custom and pro-name boards, quality parts, pads and helmets, videos, hats and clothing from companies such as Autobahn and Element, as well as their own apparel bearing the Harbor Skate logo.
"We're trying to get the word out in Baldwin," said Cuccio, a Baldwin resident who is also set to become a New York City fireman soon. "We'd like to be part of a new generation of shops, because I think skating died out for a while, but it's blown up again due to the X-games [extreme sports] and the park."
The colorful Harbor Skate looks more in tune with stores in Greenwich Village than Baldwin. The artfully crafted black-and-blue logo adorning its storefront, a melding of the letters H and S, hints at something new and exciting.
On one side of the store, from floor to ceiling, is rack upon rack of skateboards that span to the back of the shop, where Rob and Tom
build, customize and fix the boards because most don't come pre-assembled.
There's even a board with 14 wheels, called a Flow Lab -- a war ship of a skateboard -- which costs $199. The mounted television displays pro-skater videos, where big name skaters such as Geoff Rowley and Jason Dill (who was last seen as an unwanted
house guest on The Osbournes) perform daring stunts in
Manhattan set to punk rock.
The other side of the store is flanked with a large display case of high-quality parts such as wheels and trucks, rebellious stickers, racks of hip apparel by professional, skaters such as A-42 clothing by Kevin Stabb, in addition to hats and sneakers.
"We're trying to get to local guys," said Kinirons. "If you shop for good Italian food, do you go to Shoprite or A&S Deli?"
Kinirons, the Oceanside resident whose burly looks almost belie his love of skating, is also a union plumber in Manhattan.
"This is strictly a skate store," Kinirons said. "We have top of the
line stuff, and we do everything from assembly of boards to ordering
wholesale." He added that they are working on an official board to
display and sell.
The art work alone on most boards, or decks, which ranges from 35 to 60 dollars, is reason enough to buy. One deck by 5 Borough NYC shows the chrome facade of The World Trade Center on the front of the board, and Kinirons said 5 Borough is donating proceeds to charity.
Cuccio and Kinirons are dedicated to promoting and selling boards by local makers from New York city, such as N-Star --Rob's favorite --and Bodega. They also do artwork on their own boards, with Cuccio's brother Nick doing the designs. A close friend designed the shop's mural, something between a skeleton and robot moving towards an ominous New York City skyline, in addition to the Harbor Skate graffiti mural.
"We have more friends than money," Cuccio said, and added that his wife, Sara, helps out along with Tom's wife, Krista.
Cuccio also said the Town of Hempstead Skate Park, whose opening serendipitously coincided with the store opening, is less than a mile away and has been supportive, which made them more confident in their decision to open the store.
"The park has sent us a lot of business, and we want it to be huge," Cuccio said, adding that if kids are missing safety equipment, which is required at the park, they can run in quickly.
Though the fates seem to be on their side, Cuccio and Kinirons' original idea for a business isn't associated with skate boarding at all: The guys initially wanted to open a restaurant together.
The two have been friends since high school, where they met at BOCES, then went to culinary school at SUNY Cobleskill. But Cuccio and Kinirons opted to indulge their avid love of skating.
Since they opened, Cuccio and Kinirons have sponsored and participated in numerous events, such as the Police Athletic League's kid's baseball, the Baldwin Eagle Soccer Club, and donated skateboards to Project Children.
"We wanted to do events because we're very dedicated," Cuccio said.
They've also acutely aware of the Town's safety consciousness, and do what they can to help, such as participating in last May's Kid's Day America at Baldwin Park, where the four skateboarders they sponsor did a demonstration on safety wear and performance, and gave away skateboards and pads.
The duo hope that a revived interest in skateboarding locally will help their "mom-and-pop" shop hop off the rails.
"We haven't made much on sales yet, but depending on how much people support us, it will eventually pay off," said Cuccio.
