I don’t remember the first time I saw the NYC block logo by @john_c_jay, but I do know that it made an impact. I’ve always loved this logo…I’ve considered buying several trash shoes for the logo alone. I don’t know what it is, or why I’m so drawn to it, but it’s something I’m always partial to. Show me a regular AF1 with regular branding and it’s ‘meh’. Show me a regular AF1 with NYC branding and it’s like ‘take my money now!’ ⁣
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The first pair of NYC AF1’s I ever got – the knicks colorway – I bought in Brooklyn. Back in the mid-2000’s, one of the better places to buy and sell kicks was on the Sole Collector or Niketalk forums. I used to just go and refresh the forums several times a day to see what was for sale. ⁣
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On this particular day, I remember this dude listed these for $100 and I was fiendin for an NYC pair so hard that I DM’d dude within about 30 minutes and headed over to Flatbush to pick them up almost immediately. I’m not joking – from the time this dude posted on Sole Collector up until the time the shoes were in my possession it was about 48 minutes. And the drive was probably 28 of those minutes. ⁣
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I remember how happy I was to finally get my NYC jewel AF1’s and I got them in Brooklyn, nonetheless. ⁣
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A month or two later, I found the exact same pair off of Surf Ave. in Coney Island in my moms size so I copped them for her – she still wears them to the gym to this day. My pair? The one in this pic? They currently sit in one of my #tssgrailbox ‘s at home.⁣