PART ONETHE DEATH SQUAD - From Here To Fame

SUBWAY WRITING 1970sfrom Brooklyn to the Bronx“There was nothing like painting on trains, it was a once in alifetime deal, it happened, it will never happen again. ”PART ONE”My first piece (on a train in 1973) was a light pinkwith a gray outline and it was really busted. I didn’thave no type of style, I was a toy. I did it with someneighborhood friends (JT, Blizzard, Kree-J, andTan 5) but they just looked out and copped tags.This was on the 6 train line.” The number 6 line wasclosest to Part’s family home and became his lineof choice for piecing. By late 1973, when Part was14, many of his neighborhood friends had lost theirinterest in writing, which led him to connect withother local writers like Sly 108, Puma 107, and Hydra,who had the desire to burn. “Sly 108 a.k.a.David Centron (RIP) was a local cat and a SavageSamurai from 108th Street and Second Avenue.We were introduced by neighborhood friends andKINDO, PART, JR. KINDO (all outlines by PART) / 1975Photo by Harv Kahnshortly thereafter about eight of us attempted todo two whole cars but were raided. Sly 108 providedall the paint; he was a professional thief anda bombing machine. I remember he used to stealclothes, moped bikes, all kinds of shit. With Sly 108I did a lot of stuff in the 6 yard.”Like most writers, Part had his run-ins with thepolice and occasionally got caught. One such storycomes from early on in his career, on a Saturdayafternoon while he was painting a train at the St.Lawrence train station lay-up in the Bronx. “I knewHydra from when I got arrested with him, Sunrise,and Tan 5. We weren’t together, but painting at thesame time. I was in the middle and Hydra was atthe end with Sunrise. Eventually the cops rolledin on us as we waited on the platform for the trainto pass to continue painting and we were caught.I received a ticket to go scrubbing stations but Inever showed up since my parents sent me off toPuerto Rico for the summer. This was the first timeI got busted and I remember my parents goingballistic. Puerto Rico was supposed to be a deterrent.”Part’s parents, like many other working classimmigrants, dreaded contact with police and wereeven more concerned that their son would end upa statistic: in prison, a junkie, or worst of all—deadin the streets. His sister Elizabeth remembers; “Ihave to say my parents were never really crazyabout his desire to paint. They were more concernedwith him having job security. They alwaysthought this was not a good thing to do becausethey would hear that a lot of kids were gettingcaught and were afraid that it would happen to him.”But it was too late... Part was just getting started.12 13