Thinking back to the days in the early 90s when Puppet Head used to drive Jeremy Henderson, Peter Huynh, Andy Kessler and myself to the New Berg skatepark in upstate New York. The drive from Manhattan was always filled with life lessons and tons of laughter. I remember one day when we were stuck in traffic on the upper west side; we were so eager to get out of the city that Puppet Head jumped the curb and drove up the sidewalk for an entire city block just to get past traffic and on to the west side highway. Once we made it up to New Berg we skated for hours upon hours and the sessions were some of those that stand out the most in my 23 years of skateboarding memories. To us Andy was a rock, tough as nails.I guess that cliché is true that death is a part of life and as you get older the frequency of people you know passing increases. Regardless, each loved one gone has an impact and shock value when it happens. The news of Andy passing was shocking to say the least because I think of him as someone that has turned his life around and has been on the right path for so long, in amazing physical shape and skated every single day.
Andy was a huge part of so many movements in New York City skateboarding, in the 70s being an original member of the Zoo York Crew that skated in Riverside Park. He was also responsible for building so many of the skateparks in New York. These were just a few of Andy's contributions to the skateboarding scene here. His Wounded Knee style and slash grinds will be forever missed but not forgotten. He was a Grandmaster of New York City skateboarding.
Thank you Andy for making New York City skateboarding what it is today.
Pretty amazing piece on The Grandmaster Kessler
Skateboard Mag Article
NY Times Article
Epicly Later'd photographic remembrance
