VASHTIE

the capital of NEW YORK is where i was born and bred. it might seem confusing why my Fathers brother came from Trinidad to settle down in the Bronx in the late 70’s and why my Father didn’t follow his path. if you ask him why he immigrated to Albany and not to one of the typical boroughs he’ll tell you “the city was dirty”. fair enough. i’m also sure the city and Gun Hill Road, Bx wasn’t the most appealing place back in the day.

i always wanted to grow up in The Big Apple, but Albany made me!

some great images of ALBANY:

my stay in the capital was short and sweet. here’s how some of it went!

*my friends from highschool, SUZY and MAGGIE, drove up. i met them at their place and as i got into a cold car found a frozen soda.

*first stop, my sister SAVIE’s place. then, off to meet CHRIS PISS…my good friend. he had this old map up in his dope apartment.

*celebrating my sisters belated birthday at EL MARIACHI.

*cheers with some sweet drinks.

*CHRIS PISS and SIS.

*sombrero on SAVIE. she was surprised by the flan and giant sombrero.

*cinnamon flan.

next stop was LARK TAVERN located off LARK STREET, where some friends from high school would be reuniting.

SAVIE and SUZY. i got a scholarship in 8th grade to attend the prestigious ACADEMY OF THE HOLY NAMES, which was a full-paid gig out of the hood. it was all white and all girls, something extremely new to me especially since my hood and school was all black.

SUZY, her twin FARRELL and ASHLEY befriended me first and taught me about a lot of things i knew nothing about. we had some really good times.

*MAGGIE and SUZY.

*BRIAN ANDERSON had a huge impact on my life also. as one of my brothers bestest friends, i hung out with him a lot. he’s the reason i would become vegetarian at 12 (which would last for 12 years) and got into skateboarding heavy.