Pier 62 Skatepark (Hudson River Park)

New York's first modern full-sized concrete transition park, built on a Chelsea pier in 2010 by California Skateparks. Free, open 8am to dusk, and laid out by level: a marked Beginner Ollie Zone with a 4-foot quarter, 2-foot wedge and start box, an Intermediate Fun Box with a 24-foot ledge and kinked rail, and the big flowing bowl for when you are ready.

The park sits on a pile-supported pier over the Hudson, on the spot where Chelsea Piers once ran a skatepark of its own, with a carousel and a river-view deck alongside. Hudson River Park calls it “California-style” — an oval of “natural” curves rather than a grid of obstacles — and it opened in May 2010 as the first full-sized concrete transition park in the city.

What makes it a good comeback park is that the levels are named on the map. Start in the Beginner Ollie Zone (4-foot quarter, 2-foot wedge, 3-foot start box), move to the Intermediate Fun Box (24-foot ledge, kinked flat rail, 18-foot ollie ledge), and leave the 5-foot spine and the deep end of the bowl for later. Hudson River Park also runs a street-style park at Pier 25 in Tribeca if flat ledges suit you better than transition.

For a setup before you go, Labor Skateshop on Canal Street — skateboarder-owned since 2012 — is the Lower East Side shop paired with this park.