On February 7, New York City Sports Commissioner Kenneth J. Podziba and New York City Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe will welcome the 2008 Jeep Union Square Street Sessions. The world's top professional snowboarders, including last year's champion Eddie Wall, Scotty Lago, Pat Moore and Lucas Magoon, will compete in the head-to-head rail jam competition. The event is free and open to the public. The event festivities will begin at 3:00pm and Commissioner Podziba will present the winner with the Mayor's Cup NYC Snowboarding Trophy at the award ceremony immediately following the final round of competition.

"The 2008 Jeep Union Square Street Sessions will transform one of the City's most storied parks into a winter wonderland," said Commissioner Podziba. "The juxtaposition of a 40-foot snowboarding rail surrounded by skyscrapers in the heart of New York City will create a truly unique experience for fans and riders alike. This year's event will also be special as the winner will be presented with the first-ever Mayor's Cup NYC Snowboarding Trophy."

"New York City attracts the best of everything and we're bringing some of the best professional snowboarders to compete in the Union Square Street Sessions," said Commissioner Benepe. "This winter, we're bringing the mountain to Manhattan with an urban snowboarding jam session on Thursday and a winter wonderland in Central Park on Saturday."

An expected crowd of more than 10,000 winter sports enthusiasts will pack Union Square to see the sport's best performers showcase their skills on the largest customized urban rail ever produced for an event of this kind in New York City. This year, the 40' rail will have a 2008 Jeep Wrangler built right into it, so competitors will actually ride over the Jeep.

Joining the field for this year's event will be a highly-competitive group of up-and-coming athletes selected at two Street Sessions qualifiers held at Mountain Creek Resort in Vernon Valley, N.J., on Dec. 15, 2007, and Sunday River Resort in Bethel, Maine, on Dec. 22, 2007. The winners of both competitions received automatic qualifications.

In addition to watching airborne snowboarders light up the New York City skyline on February 7, attendees can also visit the energy-packed, action sports block party at Union Square preceding the competition (from 3:00pm-4:30pm) for athlete autograph sessions, free giveaways and product demonstrations from such companies as Jeep, Burton, Oakley, Red Bull, Mountain Creek Resort, Sunday River Resort and more.

The 2008 Jeep Union Square Street Sessions is produced by Aura360 in cooperation with New York City Parks & Recreation and the New York City Sports Commission.

"We are thrilled to be able to bring this fantastic event back to Union Square," said Dan Gacetta, partner of Aura360. "New York City lends a level of excitement that cannot be reproduced anywhere in the world."

The 2008 Jeep Union Square Street Sessions will be broadcast on NBC's Jeep World of Adventure Sports on Feb. 16, 2008, at 5 pm, with multiple re-airings on Universal HD.

For more information about the 2008 Jeep Union Square Street Sessions, please visit www.streetsessionsnyc.com.

Winter Jam 2008
Union Square Street Sessions is the professional element of Parks & Recreation's annual winter festival. On Saturday, February 9, 2008, Central Park will be turned into a winter sports wonderland with free winter activities for the entire family. The Central Park Winter Jam will include a number of exciting exhibition and participatory events including sledding and tubing on a two-story high man-made snow slope. A professional snowboarding competition, the Rail Jam Open, will also be featured as part of the festivities, as well as free-gear giveaways and live entertainment including The White Tie Affair and Kat DeLuna. This annual festival is free and open to the public.

For more information about Winter Jam 2008, please visit www.nycgovparks.org.

Parks & Recreation is the steward of more than 29,000 acres of land--14 percent of New York City--including more than 4,000 individual properties ranging from Yankee Stadium and Central Park to community gardens and GreenStreets. Parks operates more than 800 athletic fields and nearly 1,000 playgrounds. The agency manage four major stadia, 550 tennis courts, 52 public pools, 48 recreational facilities, 17 nature centers, 13 golf courses and 14 miles of beaches. The Parks Department cares for 1,200 monuments and 22 historic house museums. Parks looks after 600,000 street trees, and two million more in parks. Parks is New York City's principal providers of athletic facilities. The department supplies the City with free concerts, world-class sports events and cultural festivals. For more information about Parks, visit: www.nyc.gov/parks.

The New York City Sports Commission is the mayoral agency charged with attracting, facilitating and promoting professional, amateur and/or scholastic sports events in New York City. In recent years, the Sports Commission has played a role in creating or developing many sporting events, including the NFL Kickoff Live from Times Square, NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series™ Champions Week, the BMC Software NYC Cycling Championship, the AVP Brooklyn Open, the NAUTICA NYC Triathlon, the NYC Half-Marathon, Let Freedom Run, the Wild Onion Urban Adventure Race and the Men's Health Urbanathlon.