January 2018

No Pants Subway Ride Day is one of those weird beautiful moments that only makes sense in New York. It’s ridiculous, harmless, and somehow unifying. The whole city becomes a punchline that everybody shares without speaking.

In 2018, I set up in the corridor between the L and the 4/5/6 + N/Q/R connection, right on the wall. That was my spot for a while and it really worked. The flow stayed steady and the energy felt light that day, which is rare underground. Most of the time the subway is stress, noise, and people trying not to make eye contact. But on No Pants Day, the whole station turns into a moving festival.

It was also a fun challenge: setting up while the environment is extra unpredictable, extra crowded, extra theatrical. People were laughing, filming, asking questions, stopping longer than usual. Tourists were stunned. Locals were acting like it was completely normal, even though it obviously wasn’t. That tension is what makes New York hilarious.

And for me, it was another reminder of why I loved setting up in the subway in the first place. It wasn’t just about selling. It was about being present in the bloodstream of the city, watching culture happen live, while I’m literally drawing and building the world I’m trying to share.

These were the prime years. Before storefronts and before everything went “professional.” This was raw New York… and I was right there in the middle of it, posted up in the corridor, turning the station into my studio.