The Ave Green Bench boasts a rich skateboarding history, from featuring in your favorite videos to sparking an east coast rivalry. This bench has a story that’s as legendary as it gets. Originally installed as a pair at an office building in Santa Ana, California, the green curved bench swiftly found its way to a vacant building foundation in downtown L.A. It became a star, gracing multiple famous skate videos, including The DC Video (2003) and Habitat’s “Mosaic” (2003). Co-opted by the Alien/Habitat teams, it became synonymous with these companies and their riders. Basically, if a video dropped in 2003, chances were high you’d catch a glimpse of this fabled green bench.
However, the bench’s journey took a twist when it was stolen from its foundation spot. AVE and the crew attempted to secure the second one in Santa Ana, but someone beat them to it. Fast forward to 2019, when AVE received a DM on social media from a guy claiming to possess the stolen bench. Having kept it in his garage for 15 years, he couldn’t take it with him when he moved. Returning the bench to AVE seemed like a way to preserve
its legacy as a skate spot.
In the midst of filming a full part for FA/Hockey, AVE saw the opportunity and jumped at it. He collected the bench and brought it to an ideal parking lot to film his part. Unfortunately, the bench, measuring 13 feet long and weighing a ton, posed a challenge. AVE had to lock it up and hope for the best. On their third return to the spot, they found out that a maintenance crew had cut the locks, assuming it was trash.
Facing a dilemma, AVE chose the radical option: recreating the bench using metal fabrication. He measured the curve and bolt patterns at the original location in Santa Ana. A few weeks after giving the green light for metal fabrication, AVE received a call from his Hockey teammate, Andrew Allen. AA knew where the other original bench was; apparently, Tony Tave and his crew had swiped it, and it sat in Tony’s parents’ backyard for 15 years. Luckily, Tony’s parents wanted it gone, so AVE ended up with two of these magnificent benches.
With both benches in his possession, AVE filmed the rest of his part using the original bench, not the recreated one. If you’ve seen FA’s “Dancing on Thin Ice,” you know the significant role this bench played in filming, ending the part with a switch backside noseblunt and cementing its place in skateboarding history forever.
But hold up, the story doesn’t end there. AVE took the bench to NY for an event and left it at Thompkins Square Park. It sat there for a few weeks before being stolen for the third time and miraculously appeared at the famous “muni” municipal building in Philadelphia. The last we heard, it was spotted in Virginia.
Anyway, if you’re itching to shred your own Ave Green Bench, Crete St Fingerboarding has got you covered with miniature versions. Perfectly scaled, these benches allow you to channel your inner Jason Dill while jamming to Spoon on repeat. Painted in a realistic green paint job that wears in like a real skate spot, just make sure you keep a close eye on it, because there’s something about these benches that makes them irresistible to thieves. Stay stoked and guard your spot, my friends.
