A firsthand account of what really happened to VE on the weekend of the Puerto Rican Day parade 19 years ago
From gates to walls to bridges to tunnels, there was nowhere in the five boroughs in the early 90s where you wouldn’t find a throwie or tag courtesy of Jimmy Conte aka VE One, Brooklyn native and graffiti legend that was shot and killed on June 8, 1996. He is still recognized and saluted in the graffiti community almost two decades after his passing.
Another Brooklyn graff general, SKUF, who was with VE that fateful night in Brooklyn, tells his chilling rendition. Here’s SKUF’s story of what happened to Mr. Conte.
He was in old Bushwick hanging with us…It was Saturday night/ Sunday morning. The PR parade was the next day. It used to get crazy out there..people partying on the streets, unofficial marching in the streets…Basically pre-gaming for the parade. So, we were hanging out in one of the many groups walking around drinking, smoking and writing on shit. In the middle of the craziness, a shot rang out and it hit VE; one single shot and that one shot took my friend’s young life. No one knows where the shot came from or exactly why someone shot at our group. All you hear is speculations and rumors, but I was there and I myself don’t know how the fuck will anyone that was not there know. Rest Easy my friend VE…
VE Lives!!!
-Sha Be Allah(@KingPenStatus)
