Made by Eric Michael: Screen Printing in the Bronx
Q+A by Sabrina Hall / Photos by Dondre Green
Eric Michael is known for his screen printing work and studio of which he works out of in the Port Morris section of the Bronx. This past spring I had the pleasure of interviewing Eric. As a designer, I have an appreciation for screen printed work and the layers of work involved to create these pieces. You can read the full Q+A below:
Hi Eric, may you please introduce yourself:
Hey I’m Eric, owner of Eric Michael Screen Printing, based out of the South Bronx in Port Morris.
How long have you been here at the shop, and what made you decide upon opening in Port Morris?
I have been in this shop a little over a year now - but I have been screen printing in the Bronx for 6 years. I got priced out of my neighborhood where I grew on the East side of Manhattan, which was also where my first studio was.
This room [that we're in currently] was originally used for storage and my best friend suggested I move my operation here. I live about a mile away. I walk to work most of the time.
What has kept you in the Bronx?
I love the Bronx, I don’t plan on ever leaving the Bronx. I feel like it’s the last piece of real New York that’s left from when I was growing up. My neighborhood where I grew up is completely unrecognizable - the late 80s and and 90s were a completely different time. That is starting to happen over here a little bit. But there is still the essence and grit of New York that feels genuine.
A certain amount of down to earth-ness.
Yes, and realness.
Now that you have lived here for so many years and have this space - and can see all of the changes that are going on and happening. How do feel about your business here seeing all that has been changing and happening - has there been growth?
It’s been good being in this location. It’s brought new clientele and helped myself and my clients spark new interest in the arts that are happening in the Bronx. A lot of people have interest in keeping certain areas how they were -- authentic. Especially this area of the Bronx - it’s one of the last areas that hasn't been developed. For movie studios like Silvercup and HBO, it can be dressed up to look like any decade. I think that’s a big part of the reason why Silvercup just moved here.
What inspired you to create the Loew’s Theater Shirt. You mentioned earlier, it sold out, and it feels like it belongs to a certain generation. What makes it so special?
I really enjoy shirts that bring back nostalgic feelings. I did the Loew’s neon because it reminded me of Christmas time as a kid headed to Fordham Rd. My brand is my namesake and these designs are very personal to me. City Island also gives that warm feeling of family, celebration, summer time, because that particular neon is the first thing you see when you go over the bridge, so it brings up good feelings. I wanted to make that available to everyone.
What are some of your favorite Bronx areas?
I love the Northwest Bronx, where my first apartment was when i moved out my my families place. Of course, Mott Haven, where I currently live - I moved to the Clock Tower in 2012 and that is where many of my strongest bonds were formed. Some of my best friends and relationships are from that building. My girlfriend and I met there, my son was born the first year I moved to the building. The saying it takes a village to raise a child is so true, the building helped me raised my son. He was the first baby in the building, everyone knew him.
“I would like to be able to do my art full time, and be more selective about the printing jobs I take on. I’d like to do more mural work, as it helps the community, and brings people together. Each summer I try to paint a few pieces through the city.”
How do you maintain a sense of community?
At Bruckner Bar and Grill and Charlies, we all know each other. Everyone talks to one another, hanging out at the same places. Every Christmas at Charlie’s I have a holiday pop-up shop, which the whole neighborhood shows up for. Summer time has BBQ’s and garden maintenance days. That keeps everyone involved and engaged. There’s a real sense of community in our little corner of the BX.
Who orders your shirts and who are your clients?
Lots of local businesses. Lots of streetwear brands. People who are trying to get their names out there. I have built up a loyal following through word of mouth and it’s been effective. Most of my clients are artist, and so are their friends. They are rappers, musicians and in general a lot of people who are chasing their dreams. NY is the home of the hustle. That is why my business thrives. People in NY are always trying to make moves and t-shirts are a great way to do that. I have thought about moving the operation to LA, where it’s t-shirt season all year round, but the vibe is different.
How has Graffiti inspired you?
It all ties together - I would not be doing this if it wasn’t for graffiti. I needed a summer job when i was 18. At the time in 2001, trucker hats were all the rage. The foam domes, as we used to call them. My boys and I needed to work and we made those hats and used graffiti to make money. Then we expanded into sneakers which changed into airbrushing for tee shirts. After airbrushing it was a very natural crossover for me to then go on to screen printing. With the airbrushing I would spend an entire day on one shirt and I realized “hmm I should be thinking about mass production.” People were approaching me to do jobs - a job that would take me a week could then be done quicker with the screen printing.
I happened to be dating someone who got me a great book on screen printing and I taught myself everything I know. Started in 2004 and haven’t stopped since.
What are some of your goals for your business and yourself as an artist?
I would like to be able to do my art full time, and be more selective about the printing jobs I take on. I’d like to do more mural work, as it helps the community, and brings people together. Each summer I try to paint a few pieces through the city.
Made by Eric Michael is located at 789 E 139th St, Bronx NY.
You can find more of his work on Instagram
BXN RADIO - EP 22: Trill Cooker and Jason Aicea of Empanology
Design by Hoay Smith
As part of the Citizen X Tour we hosted last month, we teamed up with Alex Rivera of The Bronxer to host a live podcast at El Fogon Center for the Arts. We spoke with two of the most popular culinary artists, Trill Cooker and Jason Alicea, owner of Empanology, who are both paving a way for themselves and their work in the South Bronx.
The Citizen X Tour
Written by Dondre Green / Photos by Dondre Green
To end the month of June, we kicked off a three day experience in partnership with The Citizen Caravan, a mobile camper and pop-up bar.
Throughout the three days, we had different themed nights which included: Movie Night co-hosted with The Bronx Filmmakers Collective, Game Night at the Gun Hill Brewery and a Live Podcast co-hosted with The Bronxer, where we interviewed Trill Cooker and Jason of Empanology.
BXN RADIO - EP 21: Deyla Sabio
Design by Hoay Smith
For this episode we sat down with Blogger and Educator, Deyla Sabio from Blogger from the Bronx
Press play below.
BXN RADIO - EP 20: Verde Flowers Pop-Up Recap
Design by Hoay Smith
For our twentieth episode, we discussed our most recent event at Verde Flowers where we launched our Spring merchandise, titled "Q1."
Bronx Narratives Pop Up at Verde Flowers
A recap from Spring pop-up and fashion show to celebrate our merchandise release at Verde Flowers.
Video by Dave Jeffers / Photos by Hunter Reveur
A Hidden Gem in Parkchester: Ayo Ajo y Orégano!
Written by Jeannie Smith / Photos by Dondre Green + Jeannie Smith
I have a tendency to be a creature of habit, especially when it comes to things I love, like travel, food, Netflix/Hulu binges. With food, it’s one of those things that has the risk of being boring very quickly: the same flavors over and over again, the same textures, ingredients. Very few cuisines rock my fancy much. In practice, I like to adhere to what I call my “Triple M” rule: Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Mexican. I can eat these meals forever and never grow weary of them. I’m not an active cook (please don’t ask me to meal prep!), but as of late, with the demands of my job intensifying with every passing work week, I have to admit, I’ve found myself okay with being that bachelorette forking over all of her money to the god of Seamless…and Grubhub…and UberEats...basically anyone who will bring food to my apartment door and accept me as I am in my frog house slippers and Syracuse sweatshirt sans makeup.
I’ve lived in Parkchester for almost three years. I wouldn’t call my section of White Plains Road a food desert, but I’m not sure how many Mexican and Chinese restaurants one really needs a block from each other (note: this is not a complaint!). In fact, for the longest, I sort of avoided most spots near my house, scouring and scavenging for good eats closer to Little Italy or even going as far as Riverdale as these areas were often perpetrated as prominent “food hubs” in the Bronx. I’ve gotten better at exploring neighborhoods in the East Bronx: Van Nest, Morris Park, Westchester, and some of Throggs Neck and Castle Hill. I have every intent of exploring them all to the fullest extent, but with all these nor’easter storms trick or treating the east coast all winter long, I have risked going hungry to avoid braving the elements, even to go around the corner.
On one cold afternoon, my hunger got the best of me and Seamless had the nerve to threaten me with a 45-60 min delivery wait. I was reluctant to travel far. My makeout session with Netflix was getting hot and heavy (going on hour four), but I figured I’d give the outside world closest to my front door a chance. Nearing the corner of White Plains and Guerlain, I quickly flipped through a directory in my head of some local spots near me: North bound, “Oasis”, “F&J Pine,”“La Masa,” South bound, “Taqueria Tlaxcalli,” “Al-Aqsa Restaurant,” “Step-In.” As often as I frequent these spots, I really wasn’t in the mood for any of them. Standing at the corner, sandwiched between a tire shop and a barber shop, I spotted a restaurant I pass every evening on my way from the 6 train, “Ajo y Orégano.” I remember trying their food back in November and liking what I ordered. I figured it couldn't hurt to try them again.
Upon entering, my glasses immediately fog up. The place was small yet packed. The line stretched from the central hot line counter all the short distance away to where I stood near the front door, roughly ten feet. I was practically leaning on a patron seated at the table next to me. I stood quietly, taking in the bright decor of the green walls and paintings around me, eyeing food being delivered to the four tables that made up the small dining space while I inched my way towards the front. For how tight it was, it was incredible to not hear a single person complain, groan, or grunt while waiting for their food. In fact, everyone waiting in line stood in remarkable peace and patience. The turnaround was quick for both take out and sit down orders. When I finally arrived at the front of the line, I ordered what I had last time (and what I have been ordering ever since!): rice and beans, maduros, and stewed chicken. I was in and out in ten minutes (take that Seamless!). Once home, I sat on my couch and silently devoured one of the best take out meals I’ve had in a long time. I ate everything but the tin take out container. Ever since that afternoon, I have devoted ten minutes of my Saturday afternoons to stand in line for their food and have not regretted a single minute (or dollar) spent.
Ajo y Orégano has only been around for roughly four months, but one wouldn’t assume such based on the level of traffic this family owned restaurant seems to muscle through every weekend. Owned and managed by brothers Enver Perez and Jeudy Alexander, Ajo y Orégano has attracted a strong following. With over eleven thousand Instagram followers, the restaurant draws in people from all over the city, including patrons from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.
“A lot of people who come here aren’t from our neighborhood,” says Enver. “It’s a great part of this…Every single one of these tables, none of them live within a 2 mile radius, and I promise you, someone at these tables here crossed a bridge: from Queens, from Brooklyn, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, [or] Connecticut.”
This success was not an immediate reward. The restaurant originally started as a meal prep service, Slim-to-Go. The initial business struggled with typical issues for a startup food service company, including implementing an effective marketing strategy.
“Originally we started as a meal prep company. [But] in order for you to do it at the level that we were trying to do it you need a huge budget...we noticed that we needed to bump a lot of money into marketing and what not. So that was a tough business to try to sustain. Since we were already familiar with cooking healthy and we are all Spanish, we tried to incorporate that. ‘How do we go from healthy to Spanish?’ And the best way to do it is to make it as organically and old school as you possibly can.”
Enver paused and pointed to the food laid out on the hotline counter. “This is as healthy as Spanish food is gonna get, you know? Nothing here is saturated in salt, nothing is saturated in things like oil, and stuff like that. Every single thing that we do here is all blended up and spice up inside our kitchen. We take our time. We buy tons of red peppers, green peppers, garlic, and blend up all of these ingredients and spices to give it that grandma touch.”
“This is as healthy as Spanish food is gonna get, you know? Nothing here is saturated in salt, nothing is saturated in things like oil, and stuff like that. Every single thing that we do here is all blended up and spice up inside our kitchen. We take our time. We buy tons of red peppers, green peppers, garlic, and blend up all of these ingredients and spices to give it that grandma touch.”
The touch is working and keeps customers coming back and dragging out of towners for a quick visit. One patron I interviewed had barely been back home in the Bronx from Dallas before a friend of his brought him out to eat at the restaurant. “I’ve only been here for 6 hours,” he said, “but she was adamant about getting me here and trying their food.”
Others made their way from just the other side of the Bronx, having discovered the restaurant reposted on a Dominican food Instagram page. “From there, I just started following them, and I [saw] how close they were from us, from where we live,” stated one patron. “There are Dominican restaurants everywhere, but it’s hard to find a good one around here in this area.” His companion went as far to even take note of the restaurant’s hygienic measures compared to other establishments she’s visited, how just their constant use of gloves and keeping their hair covered provided her a level of comfort and appreciation for the food. “I think it’s really popular because of the way they serve it, because [the food] also comes in those little [decorative] pots.
The pots which she referred to have become a distinctive trademark for the restaurant. These colorful hand painted metal pots portray a snapshot of the Dominican Republic countryside; pastel colored houses posed next to vibrant trees with the name of the restaurant scripted across the top edge.
“The crazy part is that, the pots were kind of... I’m not gonna say it was a brilliant idea because I didn’t even think about it,” Enver began. “What happen was, we sent [for] some things to get picked up from DR. Everything here is from DR. One of the chefs here has a family member in DR and he was coming [to the states] and I said ‘Bring me this, bring me that.’ and he literally brought me six small pots and six medium pots. At first, you know, we were kind of like, ‘This is the perfect size’. You can put the right amount of rice, the right amount of beans, and the right amount of meat and it looks good on a plate. So that was a mistake that magically and brilliantly happened. The pots really put us on the map.”
Of course, it is the food that keeps bringing people back. During its peak on a weekend, roughly three to four parties can be witnessed waiting outside to be seated inside the restaurant. “I think the biggest compliment for us here,” said Enver, “is when people say ‘I want to bring my mom’ or ‘I want to bring my grandma’. Because they want to get it passed them, they want to make sure, like ‘Mom, this is official right? This is authentic, right?’”, he laughed.
Enver seemed to empathized with this feeling all to deeply. He witnessed one of his favorite spots, Malecon, which he frequented with his own mother, almost get pushed out due to gentrification. However, because of the loyalty and love for the restaurant and its owner, local neighborhood members rallied together and paid for the restaurant’s rent, “because they didn’t want to lose that spot,” he added.
It’s worth noting that all the while throughout the interview, the restaurant remained steadily busy, Enver working alongside his brother Jeudy, both manning the hotline, taking to-go orders, delivering food to tables, pausing every now and again to answer my questions and share with me their story as a family owned restaurant. A number of close friends and cousins also worked in the kitchen and prepped food. And lastly, their own mother provided her time and energy to being both a server and a cashier for the restaurant.
It goes without saying that the coziness, the intimate environment, and the delicious food, are a reflection of the family who put in their time and hard work. It’s a small space, but its homestyle Dominican cuisine can make anyone feel like at home next to a complete stranger. Though only four months into it, Ajo y Orégano has the air of having been a neighborhood hot spot for years. The restaurant will see it’s first summer season this year, and plans to expand and meet its ever growing fanbase will allow for many more Bronxites to come and experience them. In the meantime, I recommend everyone take a pause from their respective binges and checkout Ajo y Orégano. I promise you won’t be disappointed, and I guarantee you’ll find yourself back there again and again as I am every weekend.
You can visit Ajo y Orégano at 1556A White Plains Road, Bronx NY, 10462
BXN RADIO - EP 19: Josué Caceres
Design by Hoay Smith / Written by Dondre Green
For our nineteenth episode we sat down with Poet, Visual Creative, and Brand Manager of Bronx Natives, Josué Caceres.
Press play below.
Visiting the Bronx Museum of the Arts: Punk Night
Written by Tiffany Hernandez / Photos by Tiffany Hernandez & Dondre Green
My immediate thought was, “Why are there chairs at a punk show?”
I had just walked up the stairs to the second floor of the Bronx Museum where a projector lit up the spacious room and chairs were laid out in several rows. The projector displayed the flyer for the night’s event, which was a collaboration between the museum and Bronx Natives.
I was looking through the pamphlet of the Bronx Museum events for the upcoming months during my last visit and I noticed the information for a punk night at the museum. My immediate reaction was one of unwavering excitement – a punk show at a Bronx museum? The event itself was inspired by Gordon-Matta Clark’s exhibit Anarchitect which I thoroughly enjoyed for its contemplation on the intersection of anarchy and architecture.
Part of that inspiration immediately made sense to me – punk and anarchy often went hand in hand. Punk music has roots in rebellion, in fighting against the mainstream culture and against systemic structures. But, it wasn’t until after the show that I started to think about the intersection of punk and architecture.
My original question of, “Why are there chairs at a punk show?” would be the foundation for exploring the idea of how physical space plays an important part in holding space for marginalized communities.
How physical spaces, especially a public space such as a museum, are organized in such a way for individuals to feel welcomed into a space. Accessibility, physically, emotionally and mentally, it is created by physical organization – chairs, tables, stage, and lighting all affect the way we perceive spaces and whether they feel right for us. As someone who grew up going to shows since the age of fourteen, I was taken aback by the presence of chairs facing a stage. I grew up on shoulder-to-shoulder shows. On the other hand, as someone who enjoyed art shows of all varieties, it only took me a second to understand that the chairs were simply staging. At the end of the day, I was in a museum and museums are very calculated spaces.
“I saw a mosh pit open up, led by people of color, in front of bands of color in the middle of a museum in the Bronx.”
The night began and people filed into the chairs. I was pleasantly surprised that folks of all kinds flowed through the room and I was grateful for the chairs and the accessibility they offered.
Two Bronx-based bands Da Pop and Statik Vision performed while the folks at Bronx Native sold merch and drinks and set the tone for the night with their high energy. The show itself was a treat. Despite the chairs, despite the inevitably organized nature of an event hosted at a museum, a mosh pit opened up. There was something quiet, but high-energy about the crowd and the space that night. It was a silent vibration underneath the toes – steady, peaceful but forceful. I knew that feeling well, it is one I’ve experienced at every show I’ve ever gone to. I wasn’t surprised that by the end of the night, there were people dancing around and moving chairs so that they could move their bodies next to one another.
But, overall I was still in awe for days after. I saw a mosh pit open up, led by people of color, in front of bands of color in the middle of a museum in the Bronx.
Museums can often be exclusive places that aren’t socially, economically, physically accessible for marginalized folks to visit, much less to host punk-oriented shows in. And the Bronx’s underground art scene is often slept on as well, people (both those who reside in the Bronx and those who don’t) often refusing to host or attend events in the borough. Overall, I knew the weight behind this event before attending. But, to see the subtle magic it produced, was another.
I have always known that physical space matters – but it was this event that made me realize, chairs don’t. Chairs are only a tool, there are other important elements, intangible ones such as intention and energy, that determine the way we perceive physical space.
I think back to the Gordon-Matta Clark’s exhibit. Clark’s work focused on how physical spaces spoke to our environment at large. I wonder what Gordon Matta-Clark felt in the buildings he explored and if he felt an energy that spoke louder than holes in the walls.
The Bronx Native’s Punk Night at the Bronx Museum felt like a small gesture towards making room for marginalized communities – it was an offering for those so often excluded from physical art spaces, the offering was cracking open a window just slightly in a stuffy room in the middle of summer. It was more than a just sense of relief, it was space to breathe.
BXN RADIO - EP 18: Nysha Davis
Written by Dondre Green / Design by Hoay Smith
For our eighteenth episode we talked with Low Vision Advocate, Yogi & Founder of Blind Girls See, Nysha Davis.
Press play below.