A mid 2000s look back to one of my favorite peoples on the Eastside. Our history dates back to my first trip to NYC in 1989, where my BMX homie Chris Potts and I ventured to the city from San Diego, and stayed with Dave Ortiz, who at the time was called B-Dave. This was my first real city experience as a newly minted 18yr old fresh out of high school. During that deeply impressionable week we hit Mars Club on Trans night, and spent lots of time traversing the city at all hours in pursuit of marginal skate spots. I was also surprised to show up to city and not see any graffiti on the trains, as it was one of the things I was looking forward to. I also met Michelle Lockwood (@regularwildcat) then, who was quite tight with Dave, and cruised with us for the whole week. As the years rolled on we stayed connected through skateboarding, with Dave at ZooYork and me at DC/Droors. He would later go on to create the infamous DQM Skate + Sneaker shop in LES. So much history spread across the decades, and a friendship that has truly endured the years. 🖤 @123dortiz