for art Those Defining Moments

I think back to the time when Ghost aks Uncle Frank and I went to a grocery store, I took a loaf of bread and a two cans of Chef boyardee, as we rushed outside to make some unheated sandwiches. Alas to be a young kid making stupid decisions, because we were broke and hungry. How lucky we were back then that no one had cameras like they do today, otherwise we would be in a world of trouble.smile when I look back and think that  I went from blackbooks to walls, from tags to throwies, from bombing locally to going all city.  It was a time in my life when I felt so alive, so on fire with passion for the art. But alas, all good things come to end, and for me it began with the death of one of my dearest friends, Tony aka Rec127.

The Move to Queens, New York

In 1979 my parents moved us out of the Lower East Side to Fresh Meadows, Queens Ny. They rented an apartment above a laundry store in Fresh Meadows, Queens and I began school at Francis Lewis High School. Sadly however, I only remained in school for a year before I dropped out, it was a mistake I have regretted all my life.

Thereafter, I took a job with a plumbing supply store there and still tagged all over, but I had very little inspiration for I knew no other writers. The highlight of my time there was that every once in a while my boss would ask me to take a trip to Manhatten to deliver a part. This excited me, for I loved traveling on subway system. You see, I found such joy gazing at the graffiti enroute and within the cars themselves. We lived in Fresh Meadows for about a year before we moved to Flushing Queens.

Legends of Flushing

It was in Flushing Queens that I truly dived deep into the hobby of Graffiti, for there I made great friends who inspired me. Friends like Teri aka Tee, Frank aka Lie, Larry aka SUR167, Larry aka Sag,  Tony aka Rec127,  Mike aka Amer, Neo, Ghost, Dasher, Miro, Sookie, and a few others.  Oh the days in which Lie, Sag, Amer and Myself would crash over Sag’s house and while his parents slept. We would go out tagging and painting throwies on the walls of the LIE Expressway.  Just a bunch of wild kids expressing themselves in the only way they knew how.  It was surely a phenomenal time to be alive, to be free doing street art even though we knew it was illegal.

I will say that I learned a great deal from the writers in which I associated with and in the process became a member of many graffiti crews such as NOG, TPA, UA, XMEN, POW and DESTINY.  There was so many great memories that I can still recall of darting in and out of subway yards,  of us passing the night away tagging and bombing, of the laugher we shared at various locations. Yes, I remember spray painting our aliases in pieces, burners and throwies on the walls of handball courts, tagging in and on trains and always walking around with a smile and a wet sloppy marker.

Indeed I went by many aliases such as DreamR, ZN one, Child and PhantomXtra, for graffiti started in stages for me, and each alias with a new stage of existence.  But soon came a moment in my life when I started doing pieces on my own after I painted the Huggy bear Mural on Northern Blvd and 160th st.  I started to drift from the scene due to drama, local bullies and the graffiti police breathing down my neck. I still however continued doing Phantom Xtra pieces from time to time with 2Bad in Flushing,

However, the passion was dwindling slowly but surely, but took a deep dive when my dearest friend Tony aka Rec127 passed away suddenly due to an anuerysm.  I will admit his death really hit me hard because he protected and watched over me like a little brother.  He was feared by many for being the Warlord for the Flushing Ball busters chapter. Yet his love and friendship for me was unconditional, for he never lost respect for me and always treated me like a great friend.

I will never forget him or the times we all had shared.