GLOBAL CIPHER: 'MY CITY!' A Candid photo-trek through Té'Karefa's Manhattan

Minetta Place, Greenwich Village NYC 2010

Sidewalk Boxes on the UWS 2007

The 'Angel Fountain' in Central Park NYC 2010

Drinking fountain in Riverside Park

Yellow cab flies up Broadway 2007

Corner Convo NYC 2011

Muslim women in Hijab ...Times Square 2007

Upper West Side Broadway corner scene 2007

I was born here in 1968, at Lenox Hill Hospital.

I am told that I arrived with such a hair-raising scream that my uncle James didn't need to ask where I was in the ward..

"Never mind thaaaat's him.. that's my nephew!"
- or so the story goes.

New York City is always screaming something.
It is 'My City' in the most personal of ways;
Yet, I have found myself, on recent romps here, having to be reintroduced as an outsider.

As it would be, when revivisiting an old love at the behest of a common friend.

The territory, the vibe...only rhythmically familiar. The awkward silence that leads into a "so-how-y'been?"conversation.

I found myself living the story of the man who becomes a stranger in his own village.

My family roots rest God-strong, uptown- in Harlem.

In the earlier years it was on West 131st Street and later at 217 West 127th street at the site of the St Nicholas Houses.

I wouldn't explore this part of the city until I was in my teens.

I visited the site where my mother lived after having lived in been in a nearby area that was called

'The Hollow Way' in the 18th century.
217 is now a corner stone in family history.

'The Hollow Way', where the main action of the Battle of Harlem Heights began under the command of General George Washington. During the War of 1812

Mother land: 217 West 127th Street 1954

Subway Station Entrance at 125th

Family Roots: 217 West 127th Street, Harlem NYC 2007

137 West 71st Street:

My learning-tree childhood proving ground was the cityscape that is the Upper West Side.

The land of the now relocated Victor's cafe, the legendary dining ken for NY who's whos from the 1970's into the mid-80's.

I remember an exotic boutique named Jezebel's somewherein the lower to mid- seventies and that the owner was a fine Black woman with whom my mother and aunts had ritual GirrRRRL! conversations as my big brown eyes scanned the enchanted interior for a reason to interrupt them and comment on some random element of the space.

At some point in the 70's ' Columbus Avenue became restaurant row

It is the zone of the Central Park 'sheep meadow' Strawberry Fields; Lincoln Center, Grays Papaya of '50-cent-frank' fame and pizzerias forever-ever-ever.

The 80's and 90s would add to the list, the debut of avenue outlets for fashion icons such as Betsey Johnson and Tommy Hilfiger, soap opera divas, Chics Bass player Nile Rogers and Yes around the corner the building where John Lennon and Lived

A memorial pathway Strawberry Fields brders the 72nd street entrance to Central Park.

Hence this Barrio of the 1970's would became the la la land and perfect backdrop for Hanna, her sisters, sparamours in the city, dramatic city cop tales and other predictable White folks sagas within the our buzzing metropolis.

Downtown Corner Scene NYC 2008

Downtown Crossing NYC 2008

Speaking of sagas, as if separated by an invisible border, one of the not too famous landmarks we have The Amsterdam Houses; (The Projects) located in the Lincoln Square zone right across the avenue from the 'Met' and the prestigious Julliard School of Music

It was within this landscape, that I would attend Elementary School, meet lifelong friends and be introduced to a sensational new movement that in later years would take New York City and the world- by storm.

The HIP HOP parties that were held in that project's recreation center, was the unifying force that would give me and my classmates an energetic outlet that couldn't have come at a more wonderful time in our young lives..


The Front Corner bldg of The Amsterdam Houses on West 61st Street

I passed by my old school, PS 191 and while snapping the facade on west 61st street

I reminisced on my days in the hallways recreation center jams, featuring some of my classmates and other community guests as DJ's and Emcees with iron-on superhero monikers in White Greek Font lettering on hoodies Black T-shirts Tees and my regular vists to the principal's office for my incurable Obai-antics.

The 61st Street entrance of PS 191

The Amsterdam Avenue side of PS 191 in Manhattan 2007

The PS 191 Playground as seen from Amsterdam Avenue.

In 2008 I made my rounds From the aftermath of an Italian wedding on West 71st street to street corner wayfarers just up the block. 137's Intercom on my family's old building. The intercom label for Apt 4A still bears 'Smart' name.

I trekked my childhood adventure zones in walked through Riverside Park and canvassd the 80's 9-0's

through uptown and Harlem.

I captured scenes that hollered with of the rasp that is the unmistakable voice of the City.

Corner Wayfarer on West 71st STREET, UPPER WEST SIDE 2008

2023 UPDATE: The 137 West 71st Street building renovation and purchase history is mentioned by blogger Tom Miller in a Tuesday July 11 2023 Post.