I started writing in Forest Hills Queens at 108th street
& 64th Avenue, in the 1970's, just tagging up the
poles and schoolyards. My first tag was ROLAND 59 that lasted about 2
months. I had to change it cause every one knew who I was. I changed
it to DANGER59, D 59 and then RM
I started writing with SCORPIO 64 a.k.a. PETER CHIAPPIONE,
CHASE 64, THOR 64 who was my younger brother (he was 6 or 7 years
old at the time), FLASH 161 (RIP), COKE 67 (RIP), JESUS 2, SPLIT 5, MOVE 1
etc. SCORPIO 64 and I tagged the insides of the 7’s
with toy markers and home made markers, on the way to Shea Stadium (to
sneak into the Met games). Piecing back then, was just an outlined tag on a
train.
Roger
and Danger, 1975
There were just minor tags, mostly toy boyfriend and
girlfriend shit, occasional FLINT's... and his conventional messages
(like
"for ladies only" or
"for those who dare"). B.ONE 3YB and OH a.k.a. LAZ, MINGO1, ALL1, PISTOL 1
tags. TEE, TRACY168, and LSD3 were other writers you saw up
on the trains in those days. I started hitting stations up and
down without realizing,
there was no kind of style yet. I moved
back to my birthplace, Bay Ridge, Brooklyn (59th Street and 8th
Avenue). Gangs ruled! We had the DEATH CHARGERS and the BROOKLYN
CZARS, which were my affiliations. The gangs were fun for a while,
but they had no respect or values, so I quietly started spraying the trains again.
My entire neighborhood was clean from graffiti,
up until a week after I
arrived. I started tagging every station up and down the N and
B line, and every moving train car. I use to see TERO
tags around my way and wanted to know who that was.
I helped writers like NIT2, SKIN123 and TURN1, start
writing.
We went
on bombing trips to the yards and hit the streets, as well. In 1974, I
met TERO a.k.a. UC3, AFX2, AIM a.k.a. AVE SSB, KRAZY SNAKE
a.k.a.
KS.3,
YES.7, CHINO13, EZ-ONE, TAIN-ONE and
DYNOMITE PINTO a.k.a. DP2. Mostly TERO and I went hitting
and did most of the paint stores together. We had a shopping
bag each and a basketball inside to cover the paint that we stole.
We would wait until
Saturday morning when we would kill the Dewey yard in Coney Island. “We
would go nuts”! Whole cars had RM, RM, RM, repeatedly written
all over them, and TERO 3YB. There were times we were so into
painting that we would not see each other for an
entire hour.
We would be at it in
the early
morning, listening to our own footsteps as we entered. That is
how we knew the
coast was clear.
On Monday's
we would head to the 59th street station with 30 to 50
other writers, just to see our Top-to-Bottom's (of DANGER
and TERO).
Ocean
Parkway was another cool lay up, as well as, the elevated B lines. I
started the SSB crew (Soul Stone Brothers) with TERO,
YES7, KRAZY SNAKE1, AVE a.k.a. AIM, NIT2, RAGE1, and many others that were put
in after I stopped. As time went by, I started another crew
called the KILLEM CREW.
One day,
we made
copies of the skeleton keys (from transit) to fit all the doors on
the trains. Afterwards, we walked
through and destroy the insides with Uni’s, Black Opaque's and Flow
Master's.
At times, I
focused more on inside. That’s when I met CASPER1. He was a cool guy
who killed the insides with a nice hand style and some would
even say he was king of the insides. I met this really crazy
Puerto Rican kid, PINTO, that same night. He could not keep
still! I liked
going with TERO because we did not have to speak to one another, and had a
routine that we followed perfectly. The RR layups...........Damn
that was the joint! One time when we went in the RR layups on
a Saturday morning the 4th avenue guys found out
we were there.
The 4th Avenue guys, MALO,
CHINO13, EZ, BLUEBOY, LEFTY and 35 little cronies would put their
names up next to ours to get recognition. The gangs, CRAZY
HOMICIDES, DIRTY ONES and the TURBAN SAINTS backed th 4th Avenue
guys, being who we were, we were able to walk out of that layup.
They had much respect for us, because of who we were.
In 1975, TERO
moved to Norway and I continued to write until 1977, destroying the insides
and of the IRON RIDGE HORSES. Then in 1977 to 1978, many toys
(insignificant writers) started making
everything hot. This bought the infamous DANGER 59 into retirement.
As a result, I moved to Staten Island and was forced to drive so I
didn't see trains much. Of course, my life changed as I
started dating and clubbing and eventually got married.
I met my wife
Andrea in 1982 and have been married now for seventeen years.
Over the years with
business and any my kids, life didn't permit for much spare time. I came
back
in the scene in May of 2001, after a 25-year retirement.
FINAL
WORDS:
I started a
new crew called, OLD SCHOOL KINGS. Tthe writers from my era
had sustenance and individuality to the
whole Grafitti Phenomeno. Once people abandoned their real names and
went to 2 letter throw ups, no one knew who was who. It was never the
same and never will be. Much respect to those of you founding
fathers, you know who you are. Should any one have any photos
of any of my tags, throw ups, or pieces, please contact me.
