NYC Graff Stores…
I am truly blessed to have been born and raised in the mecca of graffiti, New York City. Being raised here forced me to be aware and observant, two qualities that go hand in hand with not only writing graffiti but noticing it too.
Based off my observation here is a list of all the Graffiti stores in NYC and their respective strengths in no particular order. If you’re visiting, moving, just getting into graffiti, whatever… enjoy the read.
300 W Broadway, New York, NY 10013
The oldest and likely most well known store in the city is Scrapyard. Having been around since the 90's it has undergone many changes including its name(formerly known as bomb the system) and ownership and is now owned by James.
Scrapyard is home to a variety of common to not so common graffiti instruments ranging from classic items like solid markers and uni paints to more uncommon tools like empty extinguishers or krink sprayers, they even have art from classic NYC writers like Niceo and Stem.
A genuine sense of community has organically been formed surrounding scrapyard, here you can expect a warm welcome in this small but iconic graff shop. The only downside to Scrapyard’s notoriety is how it encourages the police to lurk outside undercover. If you buy anything from here either wait a few hours or travel a safe distance away as undercovers have been known to follow people from the nearby precinct. This is probably a safe rule to implement with any store on this list.
2854 Frederick Douglass Blvd, New York, NY 10039
My personal favorite store on this list, All City Legends.
What I love so much about this store is it’s enhanced sense of community. All City Legends is clearly a graffiti store, however it also caters to the general artist as well as other graffiti adjacent mediums. They offer airbrushing classes once a week in addition to a slew of other events, such as gallery shows.
Another communal aspect All City has is their willingness to accept and display artwork and products from local writers. If you drop in you’ll see the walls covered in multiple generations of graffiti writers, they have work by legends like Cap, writers I loved growing up like Stu Aob, or even more contemporary writers like Skam AVL.
In addition to accepting art from the local artists, they accept products and can easily become a stockist of your mops, t-shirts, tote bags, canvas’, or any other related product they see fit for their store. They truly do keep an eye open for talent within their city.
I’ve never lived anywhere close to All City Legends, but I will always go out of my way to visit their store as they have never failed to provide above and beyond service and products.
I’d like to keep this article short and sweet, but I’d like to briefly mention that their quality sticker prints and sticker box are worth checking out, here you can contribute, trade, or even make your own!
148 Orchard Street, New York, New York 10002
The newest store on this list, and likely the most accessible Orchard Street Paint Supply.
I’ve watched as this store's shelfs have filled themselves up with more products. Not long after they began to, and still do host frequent art shows. What I like most about their variety of Gallery exhibits is the wide range of various writers' work. They have a ton from writers I love, but don’t get much content from, besides what I see in the street. Their latest example of this is Aker47’s solo show.
Another convenient feature of this shop is their proximity to multiple train lines and methods of transportation. Orchard Street Paint Supply is easy to get to, carry’s paint brands other stores don’t, and hosts frequent gallery shows. You can expect to have fun networking here or even popping in for a gallery one night. If you live in NYC or are visiting you’ll have no problem finding this store and getting active, the LES is already smashed, it truly is the perfect location for a graff store.
LowBrow Brooklyn
321 Starr St, Brooklyn, NY 11237
Probably the most spacious graff store on the list, Low Brow in Bushwick is home to an array of products including but not limited to: blank eggshells, a variety of markers, and more paint than you can ask for. They also have a community sticker box where you are liable to find some gems.
One of my favorite aspects of this shop besides its excellent placement is its constantly changing mural wall, with each visit you can expect a new piece of artwork to stand beside the store. I have an extremely fond memory of visiting Lowbrow last summer and waiting in line for the release of Rev’s story book. Here I met and spoke with a healthy batch of like minded artists and writers.
Awesome experience!
