CONS Shoe Release Party

CONS Shoe Release Party
Words by Jorge Angel
Photos and Captions by Jorge Angel and Barak Wiser

Barak asked me last week if I wanted to go to New York City with him to attend a shoe release party for Converse. Of course, with no hesitation I said, “Hell yeah!” It was a quick 24 hour trip, and it was non-stop from the time we landed to the time we had to go back to the airport for our flight home. The photos and captions will tell the story way better than me trying to use my half-ass writing skills to portray what happened. Thank you to Steve Luther, Sharon Bayron, and everyone else at Converse for putting together a great party.

Do you see all that snow? We almost didn't make the party because of it. They were going to re-route our flight to Philly, but magically a runway at the airport cleared and we were able to land.

When you land in Laguardia airport in New York, you can see Citi Stadium, home of The Mets.

We stayed at The Hudson Hotel near Central Park. The lobby and entrance was lavish, but the rooms were tiny.

After we dropped our bags off at the hotel, we met up with the Converse dudes for dinner. Here we have my new favorite dudes to party with, Angel Ramirez, Dave who films for Converse, and the perfect man Kenny Anderson.

The place where the After-Party was being held at was called Arturo's.

I can't remember who had this on their phone at the party, but it seemed photo worthy at the time. Antwuan sleeping.

Here is the man of the hour, Anthony Poppalardo, with the mastermind behind CONS, Steve Luther.

Angel got his party on the whole time. Awesome dude, great attitude.

This is the Poppalardo in black and white. Converse has sure gone a long way since the first time they tried to get into skateboarding. Do you remember back in 2000 and 2001 when Converse came out with Chany Jeanguenin shoe?

These are the Poppalardo in blue and white. I can't wait to get my hands on a pair of these, and I know that my purchase is also going to help fight the war against AIDS in Africa. Converse Red is a program where some of the proceeds from the sale of Poppalardo's shoe will go to help eliminate the spread of AIDS in Africa.

I had to get a photo with Anthony's mom and pops. Very nice people.

There were three banquet tables filled with caprese salad, pizza, and pasta. The food was seriously amazing and the open bar was even better.

The place was so packed there was a point in time where I felt like a sardine. I spy Barak trying to move his way along the crowd.

Snow was everywhere. My CONS were slipping and sliding in this crap.

I think this is Anthony's aunt or cousin. She reminded me of Tony Soprano's sister with the accent and everything.

After the Party was over I ended up at Max Fish. It's like the Reservoir Bar of Lower East Side Manhattan. I ran into Damn Am/SPoTlight judge Kenny Hughes.

Last time I was in Max Fish I remember seeing weird art hanging up on the walls and it looks like things haven't changed.

Last photo of the night. Good bye New York pizza. I love you.