Rodney Smith (skateboarder)
Rodney Smith is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and skate company founder from New York City. Skateboarding. Rodney Smith is considered by many to be the Godfather of East Coast skateboarding. Shut Skates. Smith founded Shut Skates in 1986 with Bruno Musso. Shut Skates was New York City’s first skate company and the world’s first entirely street skate based company. The board company shifted the focus of skateboarding away from the surf vibe of California to the urban, street-savvy attitude alive in the streets of the East Coast. The brand went dark in the  nineties when Smith co-founded Zoo York with Eli Morgan Gessner and Adam Schatz. SHUT relaunched in 2006 and in 2007, the company reopened their flagship skate shop on the Lower East Side. The storefront space served the community for 10 years, closing in 2017 with the business moving online. Zoo York. In 1993 by Smith, Eli Morgan Gesner, and Adam Schatz founded Zoo York. In 2019, the trio that founded Zoo York was brought back into the company.