Last weekend I went to take a– portrait of CES the legendary graffiti and tattoo artist at his spot ‘Tuff City’ in the Bronx. The place is great, tattoo artists work on their clients in individual train cars, they have a recording studio upstairs, and next door is a yard for graffiti artists to paint. It seemed to me like the “Cheers” of graffiti – people drop by to chat, paint and hang out. On  rainy day I bumped into legends LAVA, TRIKE, BIDS, BOOTS, CHECKER170,BOT707,HEZE and KEYS shooting the breeze in the yard.

The annual Welling Court Mural Project in Astoria Queens near 30th Ave and 12th Street took place in June this year. On a hot summer’s day over 100 artists came to paint. It all started in 2009 when residents approached Ad Hoc Art gallery owner Garrison Buxton to inquire about sprucing up the neighborhood.
What started with 44 murals has now grown to 130. The artists donate their time, and in some cases materials, other supplies are donated by local businesses. Buxton gets permission from property owners to turn their buildings into a canvas. Artists from all over the world come to paint the walls of industrial buildings in the neighborhood . If your passion is ‘Bob Marley’ then bring your kid and paint a mural, if you are an OG come paint a wall with old friends. This year artists such as Greg Lamarche, Lady Pink & Smith, Cey Adams, Queen Andrea, and Meres of 5 Poitnz fame all came to see old friends and paint. 

Take the B train to 116 street and Frederick Douglas Blvd. Marcus Samuelsson’s new spot Streetbird is (to quote reggae artist Dr Alimentado) ” The best dressed chicken in town” . The restaurant feels like home – thanks to the lovely staff, decor echoing the Harlem hip hop street vibe and a few of my photos on the walls. Food is off the hook, street flavors, rotisserie chicken, mac and cheese, corn bread and great cocktails.

“Big Daddy Issues”  Another great MashUp this time by the artist CES. who began hitting trains in 1983, he was a writer for the legendary FX crew. The piece features ‘Rat Fink’ a character created by artist Ed “Big Daddy” Roth who conceived Rat Fink as an anti-hero answer to Mickey Mouse. CES has Rat Fink brilliantly shaving a tag into Big Daddy Kane’s fade.  CES explains: “I choose the photo for the fact Big Daddy Kane was my shit back in the 80’s – got to see him perform several times back then as well.”