“New York City has been a hub for street skating since the birth of the sport and early videos like The Hoax showed the strong scene that existed there from the very beginning. Jon Ortiz knows about the city’s proud blading history more than most people. Alongside the first generation of street skaters that included Rawlinson Rivera, Ryan Jacklone, Joe Dedentro and the Dave Ortega, Ortiz helped establish the city’s legacy and paved the way for future icons of the spots like Mike “Murda” Johnson and Billy O’Neill.
During the rapid rise in rollerblading’s popularity in the early nineties, Ortiz competed regularly at the NISS and ASA events that received a lot of television coverage at the time and he could be seen in the majority of skate videos that were being released with rapid succession. He was also one of the first skaters to receive a pro wheel from the Medium, the notorious wheel company owned by Shane Coburn before he went on to found Mindgame.
Despite the fact that Ortiz has been rollerblading for over two decades, he is still skating hard and can be seen in many of Denial’s recent edits. He is one of the few professionals from that era that remain involved in the industry and he has managed to carve a career for himself out of the sport by organising rollerblading lessons in his home city and judging major blading events including The Bittercold Showdown and WRS Finals. There are only a handful of personalities that have witnessed the birth of street skating and stuck around to see it develop into its current state, so we decided to gain a little wisdom from one of the original New York icons” – WheelScene. Full Interview on WheelScene.
“Jon Ortiz is the true definition of a legend. He has left lasting impressions in the rollerblading scene with his trademark style that has influenced pretty much everybody out there who have seen him skate. Jon Ortiz was one of my influences when I was coming up in the rollerblade scene back in the mid-90′s so it is an absolute honor to have him take the time out to answer the 5W’s. His in-depth and truthful answers make this a classic in my book. Enjoy kiddies!” – Lord Brian.
You have been a major factor in the beginning roots of the NYC skating scene while influencing pretty much every skater when it comes down to style. WHO were some of your rollerblading inspirations while you were coming up?
“Well, I started so long ago that I was amazed by every skater I met and tried to learn as much as I could from anyone I would come across. But, I was truly inspired by the original innovators such as Chris Edwards, Tom Fry, Arlo, Manuel Billiris…you know the people that made up mostly all of our vocabulary of tricks. But, the one person I REALLY looked up to and wanted to skate like was T.J. Webber, he is still my favorite skater of all time. That boy dripped style while just being himself without trying. Nowadays, I look up to and encourage anyone that has a passion for skating like the way I do” – Jon Ortiz.Read the rest of the interview on Shutupandskate.
Last week Friday, the Too Much Love crew came to NYC while filming for their video to session the new Pier 62 Skatepark in Manhattan, NY. Photographer Hillel Dlugacz caught photos of all the big tricks that went down from the TML crew and some of our NYC locals featuring Jeph Howard, Billy O’Neill, Dave Lang, Jon Ortiz, and Chris Farmer. All photos by Hillel Dov. (more…)
Kevin Dowling and Jamie Olmstead produce another quality episode of Footage Tape. This episode features NYC’s Jon Ortiz and Ariel Surun along with Julian Bah, Rob G, Hector Gonzales and more in Puerto Rico. “In this sunshine-filled episode, Jamie and Kevin whisk us away to Puerto Rico where they spent 10 days shredding with the likes of Robert Guerrero, Julian Bah, Jon Ortiz, Ariel Suran, and locals Hector “Tato” Gonzalez, Rafy Cruz, Abdiel Colberg, and many more! Check out this episode’s documentation of a rollerblading trip brimming with memories that will last a lifetime. FootageTape – In the Booth – 2010″ – FT.
Hector “Tato” Gonzalez visited NYC over the summer and caught some of the best tricks that went down in our city along with capturing all the great tricks that went down in his hometown of Puerto Rico. The edit features Hector “Tato” Gonzalez, Ariel Surun, Jon Ortiz, Robert Guerrero, Billy O’Neill, Austin Paz, Alex Broskow, Eric Diaz, Joey Vazquez, Gabriel Arturet, Joel Agosto, Jesus BJ, Miguel Ramos, Rafael Cruz, Carlos Nieves, Abdiel Coldberg, Paul Moulier, Alfred Soto, and Reggie Santiago.
Sunday’s LRNY Bronx session was more of a flash back then a normal meet up. Names like Brian Lewis, Hakeem Jimoh, Joe Dedentro and the usual Victor Callender and Jon Ortiz were all in attendance. It’s really good for any person to know their history but to be in the presence of people who pioneered your sport is something truly great. The session started slowly with people arriving with their sun glasses on, recuperating from the Saturday night hang over, and the Create Originals crew, Brian Lewis and Hakeem Jimoh, managed to be the early birds of the day coming all the way from Boston. (more…)
