Wheels of NYC: Spring Edition

The Brooklyn Navy Yard wasn’t only hosting a curated selection of over 125 classic vehicles this past Saturday; it also transformed into something much broader. Wheels of NYC has grown into a curated daytime experience serving as a hub for car enthusiasts, independent vendors, and creatives across music, fashion, and art. It was also a place to meet like-minded people and enjoy together as a community, while contributing to the city’s growing car culture.

As I got closer to the Agger Fish building, I began to notice a certain style in some of the attendees walking in the same direction as me. There were baggy shirts, oversized jorts with unique designs, a mix of statement boots and sneakers, and very cool sunglasses, as NYC has been getting warmer and sunnier. 

The music playing at the venue wasn’t your typical background music. It was clear that the wide range of DJ’s were reading the room very well. Everybody was in tune, enjoying the same beauty of the cars around us, while the reggae melodies played with the fresh breeze and under the warm sun.

Looking around, I could notice that the cars weren’t the only thing that attendees were enthusiastically curious about. Between a clothing brand vendor and a vintage watch reseller, Ramell “Cheeks” was talking to other attendees in his designated booth, where his 100-year-old chain-stitch embroidery machine was displayed next to his unique designs. 

Cheeks, a Brooklyn-based textile artist behind Tattoo’d Cloth, specializes in embroidery done entirely by hand using antique machinery. “We don’t make patches, we make art,” he told me, as he showed me his latest project made on hats. 

His presence at the event made complete sense. The connection between his work and car culture wasn’t forced but rooted in history. Workwear, coveralls, and custom name embroidery. These details were commonly done through chain stitching, all while living in the same world as car culture. “50, 70 years ago, it was all done this way,” he explained to me. In a space full of machinery, his art felt to me like an extension of car enthusiasm. 

Creativity could be grasped at this year’s Wheels of NYC event. It was everywhere, and it was impossible to ignore. Next to Vanessa Tremain’s “Car Painting,” a car made into a live canvas where attendees could interact, draw on, and express their imagination, I saw Kwaku, also known as Sir Kwaxs, locked in, sketching a white De Tomaso Pantera in front of him.

Sir Kwaxs is an illustrator who has been drawing cars for as long as he can remember. “I’ve been doing this since I was like four or five years old,” he told me while keeping his eyes on his sketchbook. This habit, which he had since childhood, is now a part of his everyday life, taking him to car meets and shows across the city, where he draws these vehicles from his perspective.

Seeing him sketching so attentively in a room full of people moving was captivating. His passion for his craft was obvious and inspiring — a breath of fresh air. “I love talking to people while I sketch … I love meeting new people and telling them my story,” he said. And it showed. Other attendees would stop, watch him, ask questions, and he would greet them all with a smile. These moments were the perfect portrayal of the tight-knit community that car culture fosters.

After a few conversations with other creatives and many pictures of mind-blowing car colors, I saw a group of guys behind Stretch Armstrong, a NYC-native DJ, as he played his own version of Bam Bam by Sister Nancy (which I had to add to my playlist later). I couldn’t interrupt the set as we were all bopping our heads and enjoying ourselves, so I decided to talk to that group of guys behind Stretch. They were all part of Bunkr, a creative studio and community space for DJs based in New Jersey, focused on giving both emerging and established DJs access to high-quality equipment and a place to practice, create, and grow.

Among them was Joshua Garcia, one of Bunkr’s co-founders, one of the DJs behind the sound of the event, and a fellow FIT alum and Latino creative. “We were hired and commissioned to do the sound and production for the entire event,” he told me when I commented on the amazing work done “curating” the vibe through music.

“This is the biggest one they’ve ever had,” Joshua said, referring to Wheels of NYC’s yearly events, and reflecting on his third time working with them. But despite the scale, the atmosphere felt intimate and grounded. Families, dogs, young artists, and car enthusiasts all shared the same space next to the water. “You have people from all over the world here,” he added. Joshua made me see that this event was truly a seamless convergence of different worlds. 

As I was leaving the Brooklyn Navy Yard, it was hard not to think about how much more this felt than just a car show. Apart from the vehicles, it was also about the music, the conversations, the art happening around them, and the people behind it all. 

Wheels of NYC is truly a space where different creative worlds come together without trying too hard. And in a busy city like New York, it was refreshing to experience something that felt so intentional and so effortless at the same time.