There are landmarks and monuments all over our planet that define the city they represent, legendary locations that generate hometown pride and makes the place you reside just that much more special. Paris has the Eiffel Tower, New York has Central Park, Rome has the Colosseum and out here in Montreal… we have the Peace Park. Tightly squeezed in between the fried food odors of Chinatown and the animated bustle of St-Laurent Street’s posh nightclubs lies the Red Light district of Montreal; a 1 block stretch rich in street life and frequented mostly by homeless people, drug addicts, alcoholics and sex workers. Peace Park, a small square block on St Laurent Street, is home base in the Red Light District. It is a place where anything can happen, at anytime, to anyone. A place where the reality of street life hits you like a bullet to the chest, a place where urban legends are made… the Heart of the City. Who better to give us knowledge on the area than Pro-Skater Dave Boots of MQC, a true Montrealer who’s been in these downtown streets through thick and thin. He’s spent most his life skating the park’s granite blocks and befriending the locals. A true representative of street culture and an important part in the foundation of this city we call Montreal… much like the Peace Park.

On this windy autumn Sunday, while most hardworking citizens go praise the Lord in church, we meet up with Dave at St-Laurent metro for a different kind of mass. Here at Mook-Life our only religion is the streets, and if God don’t let us in Heaven’s gate we’ll just have to take out the fucking bolt cutters. We greet Dave at the metro exit, the man is energetic and confident we’re about to have an exclusive afternoon.

For those who are unfamiliar with the man, he’s a pro-skater for Urban Ambush Skateboards and has been on a board since the age of 5. Not only is skating ledges and handrails a forté of his, but also has a passion for graffiti, with some of the city’s biggest roller bombs. Currently he is flexing his talents as a filmmaker, documenting the history and lifestyle behind Peace Park.

As we head out of the metro, he talks to us about his relationship with UA: “Urban Ambush skateboards is a skateboard company composed of Montreal’s hardest: Barry Walsh, Marc Tison, Justin Gastelum, Joe Buffalo, and myself. When they first started flowing me boards I was stoked, not just to get free boards, but because of the team. It really meant a lot to me to be a part of a crew of real underground people who skated, and not a part of a conglomeration of sheep, all trying to melt themselves into an industry mold. Everyone at Urban Ambush stays true to themselves and streets, while managing to infiltrate the core of mainstream media without conforming.
Right now we’re working on my first board graphic, which is an honor for me, to receive that level of respect from the real dons of our city… I couldn’t be happier. The artwork is going to be amazing. You can definitely expect some Peace Park action in the concept for sure, hopefully dropping in November.”

Our first stop is to have some quick breakfast at Montreal Pool Room, ’cause there’s no better way to start off a day than with steamed, all-dressed hot-dogs. As soon as we set foot in the greasy dining room you can smell the authenticity of the joint. That classic odor proves this fast food spot’s OG status, as it has been around for almost 100 years. The staff greets Dave like if he was part of the fam, opens the back room for us and even give out complimentary dogs.

Between two bites of steamies, Dave drops knowledge on the history of this legendary establishment:
“The Montreal Pool Room is the oldest hot-dog joint in Montreal, which opened in 1912. They are also the founders of the steamed hot-dog, which has brought them a worldwide reputation for serving the world’s best tasting hot-dogs. In fact, gangsters like Al Capone would cross the border to play pool and eat hot-dogs during the alcohol prohibition days in the States.
Before the Pool Room expropriated and was forced to move across the street, they had been in the same location for 98 years, right across the street from Peace Park where I skate on the daily. I used to go in there all the time to eat hot-dogs, hide from the police, look at the old maps of Montreal and admire the memorabilia of famous people who went there to associate with the prestige of the place. After getting to know the owners, I brought them an orange skateboard I made with a dark purple stencil of Peace Park in front of the city’s skyline. After that it was all love, they started hooking me up with free food, but they went even as far as hooking all the local skaters at Peace with ‘skater specials’.
The best was one time I walked in to find a cop standing in line right before me. We both ordered a trio, 2 steamies, fries and a drink, but he paid way more for his and noticed. The cop, he’d seen it (laughs). I was like, that’s right, skater special.”

After satisfying our appetite with the local fine cuisine, we head towards Peace Park. As soon as we turn the corner we greet Mr.Wright, creator of Rasta Line clothing and a solid supporter of Dave’s talents. We’ve just set foot in the park and there’s already a pair of cops hassling the locals. Dave goes right up to the boys in blue without hesitating and shows them who really runs things around here: “You guys gotta leave the park, I wanna skateboard here”. Spoken like a true diplomat. As the hood instinct inside my heart tells me we’re gonna have to run soon or watch our man get locked up, much to my surprise the cops answer him with a smile: “We’ll leave in 5 minutes and you can skateboard all you want”. Shit… talk about diplomatic immunity.

Dave gives us the 411 on this legendary Montreal Park:
“Historically it’s always been a public space where people of all kinds come together for better or for worse. It’s that mixture of cultures and societies that flowed up from the Old Port as newly landed immigrants arrived, that turned this area into the Red Light District, giving Montreal its rep as a world wide classy, sexy, grimy, underground, party city. Geographically Peace Park is right on the Main, between St-Catherine Street, and René-Levesque in the middle of literally everything that represents Montreal, including the history of skating and even of graffiti. DTC the first graffiti crew in Montreal used to run through this area.
Skating well… in the early 90’s we all used to skate at City Hall, then around 93, about the time it was becoming a bust, Peace Park was inaugurated in November of 94.
So skaters naturally migrated to Peace Park, which is near perfect for skating. Over the years, Peace Park grew to be the only street spot other than the Pipe to catch a lot of recognition as a place that represents real Montreal underground skateboarding. There’s a lot more to Peace than that even still with the community that lives here and all..”

We let the cops have their 5 minutes and head out to Le Rock shop real quick where Dave has to drop off a few UA skateboard decks. We kick it with owner Jazz for a few and 2 crackheads stumble into the shop to exchange a crumpled 10 dollar bill for a brand new crack pipe. In between the t-shirt displays and racks of spraypaint, you can also find pipes and drug paraphernalia, ’cause in the end business is business and you gotta adapt to the environment if you wanna survive.

As Jazz checks the skate decks and the crackheads rush out to quickly test their new purchase, Dave explains his relationship with the store:
“I used to come in here and buy caps for painting, that’s how I met Jazz. CellBlock was the first place to provide real paint, Le Rock adapted and is still around selling paint and anything else you need.
It plays a huge role in the community around Peace so our lives overlapped, and now we hang out. Usually I’ll stop by on my way back from Peace Park. Sometimes I bring Jazz stuff to flip for me like those collector’s choice UA decks we brought in today. The decks are from the first board series. They’re the kinda boards you wish you had two of, one to skate, and the other to hang up on the wall because it’s an original put out by the most respected skate crew. Back in the day I remember bringing Jazz tape deck mix tapes on consignment. Super ghetto… but they all sold.”

We head back to Peace Park just in time to watch the cops leave the scene. Dave quickly gets on his board and starts ripping away at the marble ledges and fighting the strong October wind challenging his balance. He shows us different types of moves and grinds with an energetic aggressiveness even though his foot is still sore and injured from a previous session. It’s just a matter of time before the locals come up to us and ask for pictures in between sips of Molson Dry forties and puffs of god knows what. Each character is as exclusive as the next and a warmth fills my heart as I take in the ambiance of the realest street corner in the city. A real Montrealer can adapt to any type of environment and situation. Dave is the perfect example of this as he knows every local bum on a first name basis and they show him respect. He’s seen crazy shit go down on these same blocks and unlike your average shook citizen… embraces the moment.

“You see, due to Peace Park’s historical placement it’s always been at the center of night entertainment, illegal gambling, prostitution, and drugs, but adding to that, in the area are the 3 biggest homeless shelters in the city and a native center. So even if the city managed to expropriate all the sex venues, shady bars, and vintage hotdog joints, which they are trying very hard to do, they still wouldn’t be able to clean up the area because the homeless and the natives have to be here for the basic needs of food and shelter. Of course, when there are clients there will be suppliers, and so supply and demand of sex, drugs, and alcohol ain’t going nowhere fast. ”

“Skating is definitely the most important thing to me even though I represent with different art forms. Skating has been the only constant thing in my life. Still to this day no matter what has happened, wherever I’ve gone or what I’ve done, even neglecting my board at times, it’s always been there for me… ready and waiting. It doesn’t complain about not getting enough attention, usually because it comes first (laughs), or about how I treat it. In fact, skating is best when I take out my frustration with it. Since skating is what matters most to me, my life’s simple. I do what I want while enjoying life following my dreams with complete acceptance from my skateboard.”

Just as he finishes talking about skating, Dave asks us to follow him across the street and shows us another one of his hobbies. In broad daylight on a busy downtown street, the man whips out a can of spraypaint and gets busy on a wall like it ain’t no thang.

Nowadays, one of the realest documentaries this city has known is in the works. He talks to us about how his movie-making skills naturally bumrushed their way into his life:
“In 2001 I acquired a video camera to capture my shit on tape, but no one ever wants to film, only be filmed. You’d think the concept of I film you then you film me would work, but it just don’t. Filming skating sucks, break your back type of shit. I’m definitely not a filmer, in fact I hate it, and don’t ever want people to get the perception that I am one just cause I’m putting this documentary together on Peace Park. That project just manifested itself cause catching the insanity on tape was irresistible. At first I was just going to use all the gnar for my skate parts, but then I ended up with so much, I decided to make a Peace Park beat em up video. I set out to collect all the footage ever filmed at Peace Peace from everyone and anyone. When I succeeded in doing that which took about 4 years, I realized that I better do some research on the park before dropping the gnarliest skate video ever.

Another couple years later, it was clear that I had to make a serious documentary on Peace Park. I applied for grants, just finished the storyboard with my friend Jess, who’s absolutely amazing, and now we’re putting the script together. The project is so big that it’s impossible for one person to write alone; I’m pretty lucky to have her help.
As my image as a skater became more and more linked to Peace Park, my reputation was recognized on all urban levels, including working with the city on revitalizing life on the Main, and supporting the ‘Save the Main’ organization whose mission is to preserve the spirit and future of counter culture arts which have been part of the Main for more than 100 years”

Night starts to slowly fall upon these cracked streets and the neon signs light up spontaneously, flickering like an artificial candle. By this hour, the booze is deep in the local’s bloodstream and you can hear the sounds of rowdiness getting louder. We head up St-Catherine Street for our last stop of the day, Bijoux Marsan.

“All I can say is Bijoux Marsan is real. I had visited several jewelers for quotes on a gold double MQC ring, and was shocked when I first visited Bijoux Marsan. Not only was the service impressive, I was astonished at Anthony’s desire to find ways of making peoples visions a reality. He is sincere and supports our city’s talents. They even sponsored Montréal’s 11th Annual City Hall Championship Poser Game.”

Our stomach’s start growling as we head back up the street towards the trendier neighborhood of Plateau Mont Royal, leaving behind the Red Light District and its colorful people. A day at Peace Park is like taking a vacation to the gritty side of Montreal, reminding us that there is still realness in this city no matter how many condos they build or graffiti they try to buff.
Dave explains:
“What’s happening is that corrupt development promoters are working in cahoots with city officials, whose plan is to expropriate and destroy the Red Light district for financial gain, while disregarding our city’s heritage. The problem is that it’s not only threatening the existence of this community in the park, but also it’s completely killing this section of the Main where grassroots artists perform who are the people that contributed so much to the city’s credibility. Places like Café Cleopatra need to be protected. It’s the last place standing on the west side of the strip, and Johhny the owner is in court fighting against this expropriation. If he loses we all will lose our city’s identity and the essence of our joie de vivre.”

Now that’s real talk spoken from the heart of a man who came up on these here streets. Fuck gentrification… Peace Park will live forever motherfuckers.