Legendary graffiti writers such as Zephyr, Crunch, and Haze were also in this crew, and the elaborate skateboards that they crafted in 1979, bearing the graffiti-styled lettering "ZOO YORK" in the same "cross" style as Santa Monica's "DOG TOWN," were the first-ever use of what is now a famous trademark employed by Ecko Unlimited.

He was also a community youth activist who worked with city teens to better themselves, their circumstances, and their urban environment, often in conjunction with the creation of free skating facilities to expend their energies on.

[5] Built with the help of teenagers from Harlem and the Upper West Side, Riverside Skatepark became the city's first municipal park facility designed and constructed solely for skateboarders and rollerbladers.

Kessler supervised twenty Manhattan teenagers who, after participating in a workshop conducted by the Alternatives to Violence Project, spent five weeks building Riverside Skate Park.

[3] Kessler died in 2009, from complications due to an allergic reaction to a wasp sting he suffered near Montauk, New York, where he was spending summer time surfing and helping a friend get off drugs.