Oral History with NAK143 (Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project)

Oral history recorded for the Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project on April 12, 2023 with NAC143, a graffiti writer and artist. NAC143 was born in the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents who migrated to the New York City in the 1940s. In his oral history, NAC143 talks about his mother's family's migration to New York City and their eventual move from Harlem to the Bronx. He discusses growing up on Dyer Ave in The Bronx and visiting his grandmother at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. He recalls being exposed to graffiti on the trains and subways during his trips to visit his grandmother. He shares the details of a fire at his apartment in the Bronx causing his family to move to Roosevelt Island. NAC143 discusses growing up on Roosevelt Island and in the South Bronx, starting his writing career tagging his name in 1978 on the inside of trains. NAC143 also details the events behind winning a "precedent setting" class-action lawsuit against the City of New York for painting graffiti and street art on hats and clothes and selling them without a vendor's permit.

The interviewers Pastor Crespo, Jr., research librarian and archivist for The Bronx County Historical Society and Butch2, a pioneering graffiti writer and community historian for the The Bronx Aerosol Arts Documentary Project (BAADP) is a project of The Bronx County Archives at The Bronx County Historical Society Research Library. This oral history is brought to you through the support of The New York City Council Cultural Immigrant Initiative.