New York Shitty Day Ender: BFresh

Chris Arnade (who took the above photograph) writes:

BFresh, 28, is the president and founder of Big Ballers Bike Club, a club he started in 2007 as “a community-based club.” He hopes to change the way of thinking of the youth, by showing them that you can survive by being creative. “For us it’s about the creativity. We give love to all walks of life.” Besides riding their wonderfully built bikes they are also rappers. BFresh himself tends towards battle and storytelling rap.

This area has one of the highest crime rates in NYC. I myself have never had a problem here, the opposite. Still it is disconcerting to see the number of police cars and ambulances zooming through, the many times I have watched men lined up against the wall and frisked, and the number of gunshots you hear. When I asked Bfresh about the dangers of his neighborhood he said what I have heard countless times “We don’t have problems.” Often forgotten is that in the highest crime districts the overwhelming majority of people are just trying to get by, play by the rules, and overcome higher obstacles. The crime gets the headlines, the stories of people like Bfresh less often.