What’s up? You said you’re at some family stuff?
Yeah, my brother just arrived from Texas. He is an army veteran of the Iraq War. Super rad to see him.

Sick. Where you from? Where you at?
I live in Staten Island, New York, about 30 minutes away from Manhattan, so I’m pretty much always over there. I grew up skating in the Lower East Side. Staten Island is pretty boring. There is only one known skate spot and that is the ABC ledges. I wanted to see more so I ventured out to Manhattan and that is where I found myself.

How did you get into skating?
I grew up listening to Minor Threat and Black Flag, so punk music and skating pretty much went hand in hand. I saw a lot of kids in the high school by my house skating. It was just the sickest thing I’d ever seen. I wanted to try skating so I begged my parents for a board. I started skating on a crappy Wal-Mart board until they finally gave in and got me a real board. My first real board was a Birdhouse.

How did you get into photography?
Ed Templeton was always an inspiration to me. Him being so big in the art world and also shooting photos of skate trips was always appealing to me. I decided to pick up photography because I wanted to document my life the same way, and look back when I’m older and remember the awesome friends and times I had.

What would your dream photo shoot be?
The Gonz for sure. I’d be so hyped to just roll with that dude all day and shoot stuff. He is super energetic and looks like you never know what to expect when you hang with him. I’ve seen him a couple times skating around NYC in the weirdest outfits on a long board.

Favorite skate destination?
Philly for sure, FDR is my favorite. I skated Love Park a couple times and it felt so good skating there. I used to always watch old Workshop videos and Kalis was definitely a reason I wanted to skate in Philly. Can’t go wrong with the Chinatown buses from NYC to Philly.

What/who are some of your biggest life influences?
Harold Hunter. The dude lived his life making everyone happy by just being himself, enjoying life and skating the way he wanted to. Not giving a shit if anybody was down with him. I feel like there should be a lot more people like that around, especially now a days where people are so uptight about every little thing.

Favorite thing about NYC?
Cheap food, skate spots, crazy people. Mostly the cheap food, haha.

Favorite spots/places in NYC?
DIY spots are always the best, the BQE spot in Brooklyn is hands down my favorite skate spot in NYC. It’s always changing. Some dudes build the craziest shit there. This one time someone made a wall ride out of some plywood and it was the funnest thing ever. Pontus Alv came here and built the bank to wall ride with a little ledge in between, a lot of hammers went down on that. Recently I also saw there was a mini ramp there, but we all know the NYPD snooping around that definitely won’t last too long.

What are your favorite things to shoot besides skating?
I like shooting weird shit I see on the daily. People sleeping on trains, crazy folks, chicks, dead animals. There is so much going on everywhere it’s hard to stay focused on one subject.

Skate set up?
I am skating 8.25 Polar deck, 53mm Spitfire wheels, Indy trucks, Reds bearings.

Camera set up?
Canon 550D, Fisheye, 50mm lens, and some flashes. It’s definitely growing every now and then. My film set up changes from a point and shoot to an SLR depending on what I am shooting.

Last time you wished you had a camera on you?
My friend Eby Ghafarian is always doing some wild shit. We were skating with the Magenta dudes in Brooklyn last winter. He decided to climb up some wall that was super high up. He was at least 20 feet off the ground on this building and I’m just at the bottom super bummed I didn’t have my camera on me. All I am left with is a shitty iPhone photo of that.

Worst part of NY?
The winter time. We have such harsh winter seasons it definitely takes a toll on a bunch of people. Some people don’t let it phase them and I see kids out skating in North Face coats and it’s just crazy.

What’s the roughest place in NYC? The sketchiest?
Oh, I’d have to say the East Village. I’ve seen dudes shoot heroin and some passed out junkies laying around Tompkins a couple times. Skating in a place with used needles laying around and piss stains is definitely not a cool thing to think about, but we live in a crazy world.

Favorite magazines?
Thrasher, hands down. The quality is tight and the photos in there are so gnarly. I got Thrasher ink so I’m down for life.

Favorite photo of NYC?
My favorite photo shot in NYC is Mike O’Meally’s shot of Jeff Pang pushing down the street with his crew in NYC.