Emoney Memorial Skate Competition brings NYC skaters together in June

The Emoney Memorial Skate Competition and BBQ brought New York’s inline scene into one place on June 27, blending rollerblading, music, food, local vendors and a competition in New York, NY. The day was built less like a narrow meet and more like a full skate gathering, with a live DJ and a free community barbecue setting the tone around the contest itself.

The event sits inside a memorial tradition that has run every year in New York City under Jesus Medina and Dave Dolla in remembrance of Eric Estrada. A 2024 recap said Estrada loved rollerblading and dedicated his life to the sport, which gives the competition its emotional center and explains why the barbecue and family-style gathering matter as much as the skating.

That older event history also shows how wide the scene reaches. A 2024 video placed the memorial contest at Hamilton Bridge Skate Park and described it as a second annual Friends and Family Dedication skate BBQ and gathering skate contest for E Money. A Rollernews contests calendar also listed the June 2024 edition at 181 Skate Park in the Heights of New York City, showing the memorial has moved through different corners of the city’s skate map.

The names attached to that scene read like a cross-section of New York inline culture: Zack Savage, Chino Sin, Jeff Dalnas, Jokap, Billy O’Neill, Gabe Talamantes and Andy Crxck were all named in the 2024 recap. Their presence underscores how the memorial has functioned as a meeting point for skaters, not just a single isolated competition.

The June 27 gathering also fit into a broader New York skate calendar that includes larger roll events and weekly meetups. Big Apple Roll says it brings skaters from around the world to New York City every first weekend of August, while its 2026 edition runs July 30 through August 2 and followed a year that drew more than 1,000 registrants. Empire Skate Club of New York calls itself a nonprofit focused on bringing the city’s inline community closer together and sponsors Tuesday Night Skate at Manhattan Grand Army Plaza.

New York’s public skate infrastructure helps explain why events like this keep finding traction. NYC Parks lists skate facilities at Highbridge Park in Upper Manhattan, a reminder that the city’s skating culture has both public-space access and a steady pipeline of gatherings built from the ground up.