Real Rent Reform

If you are a native New Yorker, an Old New Yorker at that! Then this is information you need. We as natives to NYC are being pushed out on some bull shit so

that others who are buying the buildings that we live in can turn a HUGE profit. The owners of these buildings are pushing us out causing gentrification in are

neighborhood's which becomes the 1st domino of many. Now your local bodega & favorite pizza place is gone too. This all leads to a corporate America that

will not let the mom & pop store survive. The best thing about NYC, is the choices you have to pick from. In these local stores, we form relationships with the

store owners. They watch us grow up as we give them business and become like family to us. You are either apart of the solution by doing what ever you can

to help or be apart of the problem by sitting by and doing nothing. If you love your Old New York like I do then watch this video. You will walk away with

knowledge thats much needed. Did You know Sec. 8 is a contract with the state? And its about to be up. Landlords dont have to renew this contract and most

likely wont so where will this leave you. IN THE STREETS HOMELESS. Did you know that the members of the Rent Guideline Board are not even from NYC,

so why are they deciding are rent increases for us when at the end of the day, they go back to there nice lives upstate or else where and none of the decisions

they make effect them. Think about it. Someone close to me once said" Dont walk in front of me, I may not follow. Dont walk behind me, I may not lead. Just

walk beside me & be my friend." This is so true. So what I ask of you is to pay attention to the movement. Learn your rights and vote when the time comes.

Your apartment could be next. Thank you for your time.

Cruis'n With Suzan

I can remember being about 9 yrs old and getting in one of these good 'ol checker cabs. Not only being inside one of these things was dope by it self, but the ride was a first of many things as well. I can remember getting in and seeing the jump seats inside and getting all excited and shit. Sitting in one of them seats is no joke. Anyways the ride it self was crazy because it my first time in a cab. The ride started at 78th & W.E.A and we got out down by Belvue Hospital. Along the way we cut down the West side Hwy right past the Intrepid. Man, was that some shit to see as a kid! Up until that point I only seen then shits in old Tin Can Sailor flicks in black & white on tv back then like on some channel 9 mid day movie shit. Well here that shit was in the flesh, plus the fact of being in the cab bouncing around in that little ass jump seat, holding on for dear life. Then the cabbie cuts across 56st to go down B'way. When we get to B'way down by the Deuce, all I can see is markee's with naked ladies on them. Also the fact that the city moves a million miles a minute was crazy too. It was a lot to take in all for the first time, but never the less it was a huge rush for a 9 yr old.

And that was only the first of many stories I have of cabbies in the Old New York era. Most of the stories I have are more like wars, for some reason its like oil & water with me and cabs. The shit that bugs me out about the whole yellow cab thing is this. As I was growing up in the 80's as a kid, the cabs were driven by True Old New Yorkers who were natives. After a while you saw an influx of Koreans driven the cabs in like 87 88 with a mix of Haitians as well. In the mid 90's the Habibi's started taking shit over. Did you see them fuckers in the movie Taxi or the tv show? Hell no you didnt! Now its just fucking nutzo with them.

One of my craziest stories I have is about a time when I worked for a place called The Bigger Picture, During the morning & at the end of the day I had a route to walk and pick up work that was sent out house to be done. It was morning so the work had to go out. I was on my way to a place called Color Edge. I would cut through a parking lot then across the street in the middle of the ave and the place was right there. When I crossed, there was a cab letting out a fare and so I waited to see if he would go and he didnt. When I crossed, he drove forward like he was going to hit me. He came pretty close so I hit his hood open handed with both hands for him to stop. When he stopped, fuck'n Shocka Zulu got out that bitch. The dude was about 6'4" and he was one dark ass angry Haitian. He walk right up to me and kinda backed me up as he said" WHY YOU HIT CAR"! Then the fucker karate chopped me across the chest & neck area. As he turned to go back to his cab, it all hit me late. I ran up on him, jumped past him and stole on him. It was all pure luck, but I caught him right in the jaw piece. You could see he felt like a punk after some punk kid crashed his face. So he chased me up the block and I was out. At this age I could run very well. As Im running up the street, I dropped some of the work and some one picked it up. I was like fuck. When I look back I see the guys from the place I was going to, come out. They were screaming on the cabbie for hitting me. So I go back over there. That guy who had the work I dropped was Like YO I got his shit and the guy from Color Edge comes over and snatches it, like Give Me That Shit. It was all crazy. The crazy shit would be when me & my boys would do the Larry on the cab. We would take the cabs every where and have them drop us on a block that when we run out he cant drive to chase us. Ive seen bike messengers fuck cabs up and all kind of shit. From Puking to joy riding them to fighting with them in the street to losing lots of money from being drunk, I have seen it all. To this day I hate them Motha Fuckers for sure. Even the info on the side of the cab has been changed to some GAY non New York shit. What ever these people get there hands on something, they fuck it up. Im not opposed to change, but you gotta be reasonable and preserve certain things. Fuck Them Cabbie's!

The Good Lo Days

One thing I can say for sure about the Old New York I know about is that we always set standards for the rest of the world wether its music, fashion, dance or anything that has to do with culture. All over the world people copy what we do. Especially when it comes to shit like hip hop which is most definitely a BIG part of that Old New York flavor. Back in the day, I'd say BK was ahead of the game as far as niggas dress'n dip & shit and they was gully about how they got their gear too. Motha fuckas would bum rush stores and clear racks and run out with it all. I mean it was nuts, fuck'n straight nuts. Around 1992 I started hang'n in the Vill. This is when shit was crazy out there. Astor place was the place to go get hair cuts. I can remember going there just to bomb the bathrooms. For me that was a big deal. Back then the bathrooms had tags from dudes all over the 5 boro's. Around the corner was Uniques. They too was another place I was always thirsty to go and write my name on shit. They had these lockers in the front of the store that you would pass on the way out. It was covered in marker tags & stickers, just layers of shit. Further down B'way was a store called EMS and boy did we bang them out for all kinds of gear. Around this time (1992) A group of really young kids formed the ill squad of really young juvenile delinquents who came from all over the city to hang out & break night. I cant front, from these kids is where I learned how to rack shit. Up the back, down the leg, sleev'n shit and of course the good old fashion Lizzie bag. Most of you probably dont even have a clue of what Im talk'n bout Willis. Well what Im talk'n bout is boost'n shit like my name was David Copperfield. Now these Bk cats put me on to a lot of ways on how to get busy. As a kid with no real family and not a whole lot of nice things in life, I paid attention. I too wanted to be dipped in Lo from head to toe with the girlie's jocking as well. I'd be with these kids & see'm get busy and I realized that if they can do it, so can I. But when I got busy with it, I would go alone and play the preppy herb kid dressed like I was from the Upper East Side. No one would ever look my way and stop to think I was bang'n them in the head. My last year of high school was up the block from Macy's. Everyday I'd detour through the Lo section and something would get got by me. I also spent so much stolen money in there that the people knew me to spend doe in there so I really never had an issue with being watched. Its all so crazy to me now that I think about it.Whats even a lil more nuts is I be came really cool with this lady who ran the Lo section in Macy's, her name was Sharon and to this day she has no clue that, that sweet little white boy was getting over. Dam I feel bad and she still works there. I still see her to this day in there when Im shopping with my daughter, but now I can afford to pay for the things I want. A lot of stuff that I took from Macy's was always returned to Paragons downtown. They where hip to us boost'n in there but dumb as rocks when it came time to us returning shit for store credit. Im telling you we had all of this on lock, especially them Brooklyn niggas. They knew what time it was fo sho. Then there was a store called BFO on 5th ave. they was hip too to us racking, but clueless to us throwing shit out the window to others outside waiting for goodies to fall from the sky. Dam those was the days. Back then, nothing got paid for. It was a free for all from sneakers to clothes to paint & markers to food. Even going to the movies we did not pay. Ahhhhhhhh the good 'ol Dinkins days. Thank you Mayor Dinkins for letting us run wild through your city. Well my city, cause I had my way. We did so much bad stuff then that I look back now and cant even fathom how we all got away with it. Definitely a different time. Believe it or not, I still have a good amount of Lo from back then. That shit seems to be more popular now then before. Its outta this world the price that people will pay for some of that stuff now. Go look on ebay, you will see things selling for $3000 its bananas when the original price was like $298 for like a Snow Beach pullover jacket. Straight RETARDED! The one thing thats different now then before is you dont have to worry about getting robbed for your shit. Us as RFC or them Brooklyn cats as well, we would leave you in ya fuck'n skivvies in the street. They would take it all like vultures to a carcase. Now dudes from Japan & all over the country pay top dollar for that shit on ebay not knowing what it was all about. That whole shit was a movement that unless you was there, you'll never understand. It was also such a rush. I can remember going on spree's coming home with 2 to 3 G's worth of shit being like dam, how Ima tell my foster parents where I got all of this from. Fuck it, I didnt really care any ways. Well Now shit is not the same, but I have pictures, memories, clothes and friends to share them days with. Good 'Ol New York.