Andy Kessler Dead: Soul Artists of Zoo York Skateboarder Dies

by Jon Azpiri | August 11, 2009 at 04:05 pm

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Skateboarder Andy Kessler died Tuesday after a bad reaction to a hornet sting. He was 49.

Kessler was a key figure in New York's skateboarding scene. Kessler was part of The Soul Artists of Zoo York, a '70s skate crew that is considered to be New York's version of California's legendar Z-Boys crew.

After the Soul Artists of Zoo York split up in 1980, Andy Kessler helped build New York's first skate park, located on 108th Street in Manhattan. He also helped build skate parks in Brooklyn, Riverside Park and on Pier 40 on the Hudson River. His work on the 108th Street park and other parks earned him the nickname "Grandmaster of 108."

"Kessler was the last of the true New Yorkers," says Tim Vander, fellow skatepark builder and long-time friend of Kessler. "Some days you caught him and he was a jerk, some days you'd sit and talk for hours. Whether you liked his opinions or not, he was real. I don't know who I'm going to call now and talk s--- to two or three days out of the week."

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