This skateboarding feud has done a full 180.
The famed green bench that was stolen from Tompkins Square Park by a group of Philly skaters has been snatched back by a mystery “owner” and may be bound again for the Big Apple, officials said.
The backless 13-foot bench — iconic in the world of skating because it features a curve for extra-gnarly grinds and slides — was moved to the popular skateboarding park Cecil B. Moore Station Plaza near Temple University Philly last week.
Campus cops were soon called by someone who claimed to be the rightful owner and then yanked it out of the park Tuesday, according to NPR.
“After providing evidence of ownership, including a receipt of purchase, Temple University Police assisted the owner with the bench’s recovery. With the bench now back in the rightful owner’s possession, it is expected to return to New York City,” the university said in a statement.
The bench was previously stolen from a park in Santa Ana, Calif. in 1995 and then appeared in a video of pro skater Anthony Van Engelen in 2003.
The bench has been iconic in the skater community since the 1990s. tf_report/InstagramTwo years ago, Van Engelen opened a skate shop in New York City and left the bench in nearby Tompkins Square Park for skaters to thrash.
But he said he’s not the mystery owner.
“For 99% of humanity, it’s just a chunk of steel,” he told NPR. “I hope as many people who want to skate it, get a chance to skate it, and it just goes forever.”
Crystal Howard, a spokeswoman for the New York City parks department, told The Post, “This is not our property – it belongs to the skateboarders.”
She said she didn’t have their names, and didn’t know if the bench would be returned to the park.
On Wednesday, a photo that emerged on Instagram appeared to show the bench near the James River in Virginia, but it’s not clear when the photo was taken.
