New York City Skateboarders In The 1960s: Bill Eppridge's LIFE Photos Captured A New Craze (PHOTOS)

Before cities everywhere built skate parks, and skaters strapped GoPro cameras to the bottom of their boards, the May 1965 cover of LIFE magazine featured San Diego's Pat McGee doing a handstand on a tiny, basic skateboard. "The craze and menace of SKATEBOARDS" reads the cover copy, ushering in a new cultural phenomenon.

Bill Eppridge provided the photographs for the article, capturing, among other places, New York City all swept up in the skateboard fever. Take a look below at a sampling, courtesy of LIFE (go here for even more photos), and marvel at some stylish New Yorkers (time travelers?) piling onto boards and cruising through Central Park.

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