I was born in a city famous for movie scenes, where it’s always loud and it seems like no one ever sleeps. The streets are mean but as the song says “If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere”. I know it as the mecca of dreams where many arrive with nothing more than a pocketful of them. New York is the birthplace of gypsy cabs, the baconeggandcheese (yes, all one word), and hip-hop.
Here you can find preachers praying to deities and dealers selling rock on the adjacent corner. The graffiti-filled trains became my passport to the different worlds within my city. The South Bronx, The Heights, Queens Bridge, Brownsville, Stapleton were all a hop of the turnstile away.
All of these places are as different as countries, but they share something. The people who call these neighborhoods home refer to them as “my block” with ownership and pride. The more I explored things like having Tres Golpes for breakfast, hanging out with backpackers, practicing my dun language, and going to a gallery opening in SoHo, I realized no matter where I was in the city, I was always On My Block.
Monk Washington, E.125.St & Park.Ave (July 2019)
Harrison Place and Stewart.Ave (December 2019)
Tilden.St and Nordstom.Ave (December 2019)
Monica Flores, Macy Place, and Prospect.Ave (December 2018)
Saint Guadalupe, Simpson Street (February 2019)
Genesis & Ronald, Before Prom, Westchester. Ave (May 2019)
Black and his Son Liam, Barber Shop, Cypress.Ave (February 2019)
Hamilton. Ave (August 2019)
Gala at City Hall Park (Abolition Plaza) Center Street & Chambers (June 2020)
Albert, Coney Island Boardwalk (September 2019)
156th.St and Forest.Ave (June 2019)
Kiefer Dixon, Commodore Barry Park, Flushing.Ave (August 2019)
Sherman.Ave, Bronx Criminal Court (August 2019)
Several buildings being demolished to make room for new development- Crotona.Ave & E.187.St (August 2019)
Keyarah Quiroz, Coney Island (September 2019)
The intersection of Hunts Point.Ave & Garrison.Ave (February 2019)
Back yards of condos in Far Rockaway, Sea Green Lane (Febuary 2020)
Kayla, Pelham Bay Park (October 2020)
Vanessa Chrispin, Staten Island Ferry (August 2019)
A-Train in route to Far Rockaway (Febuary 2020)
Junk Collector, Simpson St (August 2019)
Brandon, Richmond County Surrogate's Court, Richmond Terrace (August 2019)
Kayla, Malcolm-X Boulevard & W.117th.St (July 2019)
Abandoned Parking Attendant Both, Dover.St and FDR Drive (Febuary 2020)
Wainer Rearranges the candles left for his friend Frankie. Frankie was killed after an argument with a bodega owner over a beer. Longwood.Ave / Bill Rainey Park (October 2019)
Ras, E.156th.St and Forest.Ave (July 2019)
