Surfing in New York sounds like an oxymoron. To most people, New York is one thing: a concrete jungle with Times Square at the center. But New Yorkers have been surfing in the cold waters of the Atlantic for decades. From Montauk to 90th Street Beach, New York has some of the best and most consistent breaks on the upper East Coast. So, it’s little wonder that a strong current of surf culture flows through the five boroughs. One of those cultivators of surf stoke is Union Surfboards, based in Brooklyn. The operation started with Chris Williams and Jeff Schroeder’s simple desire to provide surfers with a shred stick of their own specification and desire. Today, they’re making bespoke boards for surfers of all levels, from groms to veterans, and shipping their boards around the world. When we visited, on a day when the Rockaways were flat (otherwise, the boys may not have been in the studio), they were prepping a board to ship to Costa Rica. They walked us through the process and the mentality that goes into each creation.
The Art of Surfboard Shaping in the Big City
Union Surfboards, based in Brooklyn, provide surfers of all levels with bespoke shred sticks.
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