A New York Fantasy

1. World Trade Center
2. Statue of Liberty (The tablet says “Throw Your Hands in the Air” which is one of the directions DJs and MCs would give to crowds.)
3. Hip-hop was born from poverty. Many areas in New York during the 1970s had crumbling buildings. Two boys are jumping off fire escapes on to a mattress.
4. Chrysler Building
5. During the 1970s, Times Square was a seedy place with many adult theaters. The title of this poster is a reference to peep shows.
6. The 4 elements of hip-hop are DJing, MCing, breaking, and graffiti writing.
7. Brooklyn Bridge
8. Many graffiti writers used to illegally enter train yards in order to paint their masterpieces.
9. The 5 and 2 train were popular trains for graffiti artists because they would travel through large areas of New York.
10. A burner is graffiti which goes from the top to the bottom of a train.
11. Times Square New Year’s Eve ball drop
12. King Kong
13. Empire State Building
14. Jogger running through Central Park
15. Many b-boying (break dancing) crews used to put their names on their shirts. Many b-boys used Freeze in their name.
16. Wesley Snipes as Nino Brown from New Jack City
17. Gang members from the Black Spades and Black Skulls. Gangs were prevalent during this era.
18. New York subway station
19. Dan Akroyd as a Conehead from Saturday Night Live
20. A break dancer with some of the fashions of the era: Converse shoes with fat laces and high striped socks
21. Many graffiti artists would use “I” to show they were the first artist to use that name.
22. New York brownstones
23. Rosario Dawson as Ruby from Kids
24. Bill Cosby as Heathcliff Huxtable from The Cosby Show
25. Poster for DJ Kool Herc playing at the Executive Playhouse, an early hip-hop club.
26. Poster for famous hip-hop crew Afrika Bamabaata and the Zulu Nation playing at Negril, an early hip-hop club.
27. Poster for the “accepted birthplace of hip-hop”, a party thrown by DJ Kool Herc thrown at the rec room at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue on August 11, 1973. The interior of the room is modeled after the rec room.
28. DJ Kool Herc working the turntables with a shirt from Hevalo, a club he used to play at. Herc is credited with originating hip-hop.
29. Poster for a freestyle battle between two famous hip-hop crews, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and the Coldcrush Brothers, at an early hip-hop club, The Dixie.
30. Poster for a show featuring famous hip-hop duo, Double Trouble, and a famous MC, Busy Bee, at the Roxy, an early hip-hop club. The Roxy used to throw Wheels of Steel parties, a reference to turntables.
31. A break dancer with a shirt referencing a famous b-boy crew, The Rock Steady Crew. Also, he is wearing another fashion from the 1970s: shoelaces wrapped up his legs. It helped keep pant legs from getting in the way of dancing.
32. A guy looking through records or diggin’ in the crates.
33. Disco girl with an afro and bell bottoms
34. John Travolta as Tony Manero from Saturday Night Fever
35. A kid wearing fashions of the era: winter wear, name plate chains, and one glove.
36. Poster for an opening at graffiti friendly art gallery, Fun Gallery. Skeme, Zephyr, and Dondi are famous graffiti artists.
37. Famous MC Biggie Smalls selling crack, the “job” he held before rapping. Crack has been a problem in New York since the 1980s.
38. Famous MC Chuck D of Public Enemy
39. Famous MC Kurtis Blow performing at The Dixie, the club featured in Wild Style. The checkered floor is part of the interior.
40. Run and DMC from famous hip-hop group, Run DMC
41. Famous MC LL Cool J
42. Famous MC Rakim
43. Famous MC KRS-One
44. Chevy Chase as Gerald Ford from Saturday Night Live
45. Kid playing music from his boom box as he walked around. An accepted way of listening to music. He is also wearing a piece of jewelry that says “LOVE”, a reference to Do the Right Thing
46. Spike Lee as Mookie from Do the Right Thing. Also, he is wearing a Jackie Robinson Brooklyn Dodgers jersey
47. Guy wearing a New York Rangers jersey. The 94 references their Stanley Cup win in 1994.
48. Kid getting dumped with water is wearing a shirt that says “I’ll Make it Anywhere”. A reference to the song that says of New York, “If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.”
49. Guy carrying girl is wearing a New York Jets jersey that references their Super Bowl III win.
50. Street signs showing famous New York streets, Broadway and Wall Street.
51. Steve Martin playing double dutch
52. Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken from Escape from New York
53. New York Police Department (NYPD) car
54. In the summer, kids would open fire hydrants in order to spray their friends and cool off
55. Guy wearing New York Giants jersey that references their Super Bowl XXI, XXV, and XLII wins
56. John Belushi as Samurai from Saturday Night Live
57. Street signs showing famous New York streets, Park Avenue and 5th Avenue.
58. Street vendor selling food
59. Sign on street vendor “We Never Sleep” references the saying about New York, the city that never sleeps.
60. Jerry Seinfeld as Jerry Seinfeld from Seinfeld
61. Guy playing handball
62. Eddie Murphy as Prince Akeem from Coming to America. Also, he is being pick-pocketed.
63. SOS refers to the 1970s serial killer Son of Sam
64. Guy playing basketball is wearing a New York Knicks jersey. The jersey references their 1970 and 1973 NBA title. All of the players on the court are wearing short shorts and high socks in reference to what players wore during that era. Also, the numbers on 3 of the players make reference to the most famous New york area code, 212.
65. Car from famous car chase scene in the French Connection.
66. Guy dumping slime on his head and “don’t” sign references the movie Ghostbusters.
67. The group freestyling is loosely based on the famous hip-hop crew The Fantastic Five. Each member is wearing a shirt with a name of one of the 5 bouroughs: Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan, and The Bronx.
68. The DJ working the turntables is Grand Wizard Theodore. He is credited with inventing the scratch. When people would throw block parties in the park, they would power their equipment using a street light.
69. Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver
70. Danny DeVito as Louie De Palma from Taxi
71. Bill Murray as Nick the Lounge Singer from Saturday Night Live
72. Marlon Brando as Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather
73. New York firefighter
74. Gilda Radner as Roseanne Roseannadanna from Saturday Night Live
75. Guy wearing a New York Mets jersey. The numbers on his jersey reference their World Series wins in 1969 and 1986. They were called The Amazin’ Mets during the 1969 season.
76. Sarah Jessica Parker as Carrie Bradshaw from Sex and the City
77. Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green from Friends
78. Canal Street booth. Many fake, but very real looking goods can be purchased here. Handbags, watches and DVDs are the items found most often. The DVDs in the bin reference two famous hip-hop movies, Style Wars and Wild Style. The sign above the booth references a New York nickname, The Big Apple.
79. Pitcher references the winning home run by Bobby Thompson as a member of the New York Giants in 1951. It was called the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World”.
80. Batter wearing New York Yankees jersey. The 27 references the number of World Series titles they have won.

Copyright 2006-12 ©, Joe Mills. All rights reserved.