Zoo York
Encyclopedia
Zoo York is a style and social philosophy
inspired by the New York City
graffiti art subculture of the 1970s. Its name originates from a subway tunnel running underneath the area of the Central Park Zoo
. This tunnel, called the Zoo York Tunnel, or simply "Zoo York," was a haunt of very early "old school" graffiti writers who hung out with the hippies around the Central Park Bandshell in the late-1960s and 1970s.
pioneer and rapper ALI
(Marc André Edmonds), founder of the Soul Artists, the subway tunnel provided a "scene" where crews of Manhattan
graffiti artists gathered at night. The tunnel itself was a "cut-and-cover" subway construction project which ripped through Central Park
from 1971 to 1973. Extensions of the Broadway
BMT and Sixth Avenue
IND lines, continued north from their former 57th Street terminal stations, merged just south of the City Zoo
, then snaked underneath the zoo grounds and out under Fifth Avenue, where they connected to the recently completed 63rd Street Line
.
During construction, the site was left unguarded at night. Unauthorized entry was discouraged by a tall aluminum-sheathed wall
erected around the open ground by the New York City Transit Authority
-- but this hardly deterred local graffiti writers from boosting one another over it and climbing down into the tunnel below. Down inside the tunnel, there were four sets of subway tracks
(uptown and downtown IND
and BMT
lines) constructed on two levels deep underneath the park, creating something of a subterranean monkey-house environment for invading street kids to climb around and scrawl graffiti on.
is prominently displayed on the second page of The Faith of Graffiti, the noted 1974 photo essay
book on New York City graffiti
(documented by Mervyn Kurlansky and John Naar, with text by Norman Mailer
. Praeger Publishers, Inc.)
coined the term "Zoo York" to describe the absurdity displayed in the attitudes and actions of New Yorkers during what he called the "Sick Seventies
" -- particularly as exemplified by what he saw at the Central Park subway tunnel site late at night. The tunnel's naming occurred when a crew of graffiti artists calling themselves The Underground (UND) gathered at the site late one autumn night in 1971. Several of them, ALI
, FINE, KITE (aka CRUNCH) and ACEY (aka SIE-1), had just attended a showing of a new musical-comedy
review called National Lampoon's Lemmings
at the Village Gate downtown. The show (which starred future comic notables John Belushi
, Chevy Chase
and Christopher Guest
) lampooned the Woodstock Festival
, which had taken place upstate two years earlier -- calling it "Woodchuck" and equating the entire hippie
generation with lemmings
bent on self-destruction. The crew of teenagers made similar comparisons between themselves and the unfortunate beasts incarcerated in the nearby city zoo.
The Central Park Zoo
at that time was a classical 19th-century menagerie
, populated by wild animals displayed in open-air cages, who paced the bars back and forth neurotically -- always hoping for an escape, yet paradox
ically blind to the world beyond their cramped quarters. ALI
noted that by contrast, here were these feral
teenagers, himself included, living in a free society
, who sought nothing more wholeheartedly than to crowd together in a deep, dark hole in the ground. Marvelling at their perverse urban psychologies, ALI
decided that all city people were insane for seeking imprisonment
in tiny apartments, offices, subway cars and the like, and declared that New York City
itself was "not New, but a Zoo!" He named the tunnel itself "Zoo York" -- a perfect symbol
, in his mind, of the dark psyche
of the inner city itself.
. However, numerous entities put the "bite" on ALI's style following his death, spawning a variety of commercial enterprises vying to cash in on the catchy name which ALI alone devised in 1971. In 1993 the skateboarding company "Zoo York" was founded. It would go on to be one of the more relevant east coast companies (as many of the companies and skate industry in general were at the time based in California). Later it was sold to Ecko Ltd and recently expanded into clothing and footwear.
Social philosophy
Social philosophy is the philosophical study of questions about social behavior . Social philosophy addresses a wide range of subjects, from individual meanings to legitimacy of laws, from the social contract to criteria for revolution, from the functions of everyday actions to the effects of...
inspired by the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
graffiti art subculture of the 1970s. Its name originates from a subway tunnel running underneath the area of the Central Park Zoo
Central Park Zoo
The Central Park Zoo is a small zoo located in Central Park in New York City. It is part of an integrated system of four zoos and the New York Aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society , and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums .The zoo began in the 1860s as a...
. This tunnel, called the Zoo York Tunnel, or simply "Zoo York," was a haunt of very early "old school" graffiti writers who hung out with the hippies around the Central Park Bandshell in the late-1960s and 1970s.
Zoo York Tunnel
Dubbed "Zoo York" by graffitiGraffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
pioneer and rapper ALI
ALI (graffiti artist)
ALI was the graffiti name of artist and musician Marc André Edmonds, also known as J. Walter Negro, “The Playin’ Brown Rapper.” As ALI, he is best known as the founder of 'Soul Artists' and originator of the cult of Zoo York. As "alter-ego" J. Walter Negro ALI was the graffiti name of artist and...
(Marc André Edmonds), founder of the Soul Artists, the subway tunnel provided a "scene" where crews of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
graffiti artists gathered at night. The tunnel itself was a "cut-and-cover" subway construction project which ripped through Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
from 1971 to 1973. Extensions of the Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
BMT and Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)
Sixth Avenue – officially Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown"...
IND lines, continued north from their former 57th Street terminal stations, merged just south of the City Zoo
Central Park Zoo
The Central Park Zoo is a small zoo located in Central Park in New York City. It is part of an integrated system of four zoos and the New York Aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society , and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums .The zoo began in the 1860s as a...
, then snaked underneath the zoo grounds and out under Fifth Avenue, where they connected to the recently completed 63rd Street Line
IND 63rd Street Line
The IND 63rd Street Line is a rapid transit line of the IND division of the New York City Subway system. It runs from the IND Sixth Avenue Line at 57th Street east under 63rd Street and the East River through the 63rd Street Tunnel to the IND Queens Boulevard Line in Queens...
.
During construction, the site was left unguarded at night. Unauthorized entry was discouraged by a tall aluminum-sheathed wall
Zoo York Wall
The Zoo York Wall was a graffiti wall in Manhattan's Central Park, where subway writers and other street artists "made their marks" in the early-70s. It was a temporary wall, erected in 1971 by the New York City Transit Authority to block unauthorized entry into the site of a new subway extension...
erected around the open ground by the New York City Transit Authority
New York City Transit Authority
The New York City Transit Authority is a public authority in the U.S. state of New York that operates public transportation in New York City...
-- but this hardly deterred local graffiti writers from boosting one another over it and climbing down into the tunnel below. Down inside the tunnel, there were four sets of subway tracks
Rail tracks
The track on a railway or railroad, also known as the permanent way, is the structure consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers and ballast , plus the underlying subgrade...
(uptown and downtown IND
Independent Subway System
The Independent Subway System , formerly known as the Independent City-Owned Subway System or the Independent City-Owned Rapid Transit Railroad, was a rapid transit rail system in New York City that is now part of the New York City Subway...
and BMT
Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation
The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation was an urban transit holding company, based in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, and incorporated in 1923. The system was sold to the city in 1940 and today, together with the IND subway system, form the B Division of the New York City Subway...
lines) constructed on two levels deep underneath the park, creating something of a subterranean monkey-house environment for invading street kids to climb around and scrawl graffiti on.
Tagging the wall
Graffiti artists also marked their territory by "tagging" the wall which had been put up around the construction site. A photograph of the extinct Zoo York WallZoo York Wall
The Zoo York Wall was a graffiti wall in Manhattan's Central Park, where subway writers and other street artists "made their marks" in the early-70s. It was a temporary wall, erected in 1971 by the New York City Transit Authority to block unauthorized entry into the site of a new subway extension...
is prominently displayed on the second page of The Faith of Graffiti, the noted 1974 photo essay
Photo essay
A photo-essay is a set or series of photographs that are intended to tell a story or evoke a series of emotions in the viewer. A photo essay will often show pictures in deep emotional stages. Photo essays range from purely photographic works to photographs with captions or small notes to full text...
book on New York City graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
(documented by Mervyn Kurlansky and John Naar, with text by Norman Mailer
Norman Mailer
Norman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
. Praeger Publishers, Inc.)
Origins of name
A cynical social observer with a quick wit, ALIALI (graffiti artist)
ALI was the graffiti name of artist and musician Marc André Edmonds, also known as J. Walter Negro, “The Playin’ Brown Rapper.” As ALI, he is best known as the founder of 'Soul Artists' and originator of the cult of Zoo York. As "alter-ego" J. Walter Negro ALI was the graffiti name of artist and...
coined the term "Zoo York" to describe the absurdity displayed in the attitudes and actions of New Yorkers during what he called the "Sick Seventies
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
" -- particularly as exemplified by what he saw at the Central Park subway tunnel site late at night. The tunnel's naming occurred when a crew of graffiti artists calling themselves The Underground (UND) gathered at the site late one autumn night in 1971. Several of them, ALI
ALI (graffiti artist)
ALI was the graffiti name of artist and musician Marc André Edmonds, also known as J. Walter Negro, “The Playin’ Brown Rapper.” As ALI, he is best known as the founder of 'Soul Artists' and originator of the cult of Zoo York. As "alter-ego" J. Walter Negro ALI was the graffiti name of artist and...
, FINE, KITE (aka CRUNCH) and ACEY (aka SIE-1), had just attended a showing of a new musical-comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
review called National Lampoon's Lemmings
National Lampoon's Lemmings
National Lampoon's Lemmings, a spinoff of the humor magazine National Lampoon, was a 1973 stage show which helped launch the performing careers of John Belushi, Christopher Guest, and Chevy Chase. The show was co-written and co-directed by a number of people including Sean Kelly...
at the Village Gate downtown. The show (which starred future comic notables John Belushi
John Belushi
John Adam Belushi was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known as one of the original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, The Star of the Films National Lampoon's Animal House and the The Blues Brothers and for fronting the American blues and soul...
, Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
and Christopher Guest
Christopher Guest
Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest , better known as Christopher Guest, is an American screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor and comedian. He is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed and starred in several improvisational "mockumentary" films that...
) lampooned the Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Festival
Woodstock Music & Art Fair was a music festival, billed as "An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music". It was held at Max Yasgur's 600-acre dairy farm in the Catskills near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York, from August 15 to August 18, 1969...
, which had taken place upstate two years earlier -- calling it "Woodchuck" and equating the entire hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
generation with lemmings
Lemming
Lemmings are small rodents, usually found in or near the Arctic, in tundra biomes. They are subniveal animals, and together with voles and muskrats, they make up the subfamily Arvicolinae , which forms part of the largest mammal radiation by far, the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes rats,...
bent on self-destruction. The crew of teenagers made similar comparisons between themselves and the unfortunate beasts incarcerated in the nearby city zoo.
The Central Park Zoo
Central Park Zoo
The Central Park Zoo is a small zoo located in Central Park in New York City. It is part of an integrated system of four zoos and the New York Aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society , and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums .The zoo began in the 1860s as a...
at that time was a classical 19th-century menagerie
Menagerie
A menagerie is/was a form of keeping common and exotic animals in captivity that preceded the modern zoological garden. The term was first used in seventeenth century France in reference to the management of household or domestic stock. Later, it came to be used primarily in reference to...
, populated by wild animals displayed in open-air cages, who paced the bars back and forth neurotically -- always hoping for an escape, yet paradox
Paradox
Similar to Circular reasoning, A paradox is a seemingly true statement or group of statements that lead to a contradiction or a situation which seems to defy logic or intuition...
ically blind to the world beyond their cramped quarters. ALI
ALI (graffiti artist)
ALI was the graffiti name of artist and musician Marc André Edmonds, also known as J. Walter Negro, “The Playin’ Brown Rapper.” As ALI, he is best known as the founder of 'Soul Artists' and originator of the cult of Zoo York. As "alter-ego" J. Walter Negro ALI was the graffiti name of artist and...
noted that by contrast, here were these feral
Feral
A feral organism is one that has changed from being domesticated to being wild or untamed. In the case of plants it is a movement from cultivated to uncultivated or controlled to volunteer. The introduction of feral animals or plants to their non-native regions, like any introduced species, may...
teenagers, himself included, living in a free society
Free society
In a theoretical free society, all individuals act voluntarily. Individuals in a free society find it safe to be unpopular. This can be elaborated in terms of freedom of speech - if people have a right to express their views without fear of arrest, imprisonment, or physical harm.In a free society,...
, who sought nothing more wholeheartedly than to crowd together in a deep, dark hole in the ground. Marvelling at their perverse urban psychologies, ALI
ALI (graffiti artist)
ALI was the graffiti name of artist and musician Marc André Edmonds, also known as J. Walter Negro, “The Playin’ Brown Rapper.” As ALI, he is best known as the founder of 'Soul Artists' and originator of the cult of Zoo York. As "alter-ego" J. Walter Negro ALI was the graffiti name of artist and...
decided that all city people were insane for seeking imprisonment
Imprisonment
Imprisonment is a legal term.The book Termes de la Ley contains the following definition:This passage was approved by Atkin and Duke LJJ in Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co....
in tiny apartments, offices, subway cars and the like, and declared that New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
itself was "not New, but a Zoo!" He named the tunnel itself "Zoo York" -- a perfect symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
, in his mind, of the dark psyche
Psyche (psychology)
The word psyche has a long history of use in psychology and philosophy, dating back to ancient times, and has been one of the fundamental concepts for understanding human nature from a scientific point of view. The English word soul is sometimes used synonymously, especially in older...
of the inner city itself.
Idea And Skaters
The idea behind "Zoo York" stems solely from the absurdist social humor of ALIALI (graffiti artist)
ALI was the graffiti name of artist and musician Marc André Edmonds, also known as J. Walter Negro, “The Playin’ Brown Rapper.” As ALI, he is best known as the founder of 'Soul Artists' and originator of the cult of Zoo York. As "alter-ego" J. Walter Negro ALI was the graffiti name of artist and...
. However, numerous entities put the "bite" on ALI's style following his death, spawning a variety of commercial enterprises vying to cash in on the catchy name which ALI alone devised in 1971. In 1993 the skateboarding company "Zoo York" was founded. It would go on to be one of the more relevant east coast companies (as many of the companies and skate industry in general were at the time based in California). Later it was sold to Ecko Ltd and recently expanded into clothing and footwear.
Fashion line
Currently, Zoo York is a collection of clothing that is influenced by skateboarding culture. It is owned and produced by Ecko Unlimited.Further reading
- The Faith of Graffiti, documented by Mervyn Kurlansky and John Naar, text by Norman MailerNorman MailerNorman Kingsley Mailer was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, and film director.Along with Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Hunter S...
, New York: Praeger Publishers, Inc., 1974.