Interview of Taki183 Taki, where did you grow up? I grew up in Washington Heights, moved there when I was a little kid. A lot of Greeks at the time stayed with the Greeks, then that changed with the Heights, the183th street, hung out with everybody and it was a pretty nice place to grow up. Is it safe to say Washington Heights was the birthplace of modern graffiti in...

 Graffiti writers around the world know the name that started it all: TAKI 183. A kid from 183rd Street in northern Manhattan, TAKI 183’s simple signature captured the attention of a reporter and, on July 21, 1971, the article “TAKI 183 Spawns Pen Pals” appeared in The New York Times. Just like that, TAKI 183 became a graffiti legend, with rumors...