It was a rainy day in May of 2011. The reigning Skater of the Year was Mike McGill or Leo Romero or someone like that. Blue Park didn’t exist. Kader Sylla had not yet been born. Derrick Rose was about to become the youngest MVP in NBA history, as Future and YC’s “Racks on Racks (on Racks)” rung throughout car systems and night clubs in post-Great Recession America.
On E. 6th Street, we were helping Mike Gigliotti pack up his apartment as we scoured through bags of gear, leftover from fashions of yesteryear, and otherwise bound for Goodwill. He was due to set sail home for Los Angeles that next morning.
“I’ll be back!” he told us, ignoring in our tear-strewn faces.
…but like a wise man one said: “It’s L.A. Nobody leaves.”