New book on the OG graffiti scene of NYC

"The Heights Boys" by MIKE 171 and SJK 171 set to be published in May 2025

Marked by political upheaval, social unrest, assassinations of important public figures and major cultural shifts, the tumultuousness of 1968 profoundly re-shaped the U.S. Protests erupted on college campuses, and in major cities, breeding uncertainty and distrust among adolescents and young adults.

MIKE 171 and SJK 171 are well-known and revered writers and have been written up in many important books, but this is the first book in their own words, telling their own story.

Against that backdrop, two pre-teen boys from the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan were trying to make sense of the world writ large, but more importantly, their place in it, and in their city, New York . They wanted to be known; they wanted to matter; and they wanted people to recognize and acknowledge them.

Part of the nascent graffiti scene, Mike 171 and SJK 171—as they came to be known because of their tags—first started writing on walls with white shoe polish because they had it on hand, but quickly moved on to markers and spray paint. They developed their own style of graffiti that evolved into more elaborate tagging with squiggles, arrows, puff clouds and smoking guns, and eventually took their place in the annals of graffiti.

Theirs is a tale of what happened in New York City but eventually played out in cities across the U.S and the world.

Friends since they can remember—more like brothers after all this time—we are working with Mike 171 and SJK 171on a forthcoming book, The Heights Boys. Covering 1968-1975, The Heights Boys is a story about the graffiti scene and its place in popular culture, but more importantly, it’s about two boys who endured significant loss and hardship, but gathered strength from their experiences, and ultimately persevered as part of the OG crew of graffitists who made history.

Look for the book to be published in May 2025.