By Stacey Dougherty
Photos by Sammy Boykin
Back in December 2004, as he ascended to street level from the underground depths of Penn Station and was greeted by Seventh Avenue and New York City for the very first time, Sammy Boykin fell in love. Hard.
He was immediately overcome and utterly mesmerized. It probably helped that his visit occurred just before the New Year and the city was therefore decked out in all her holiday finery. Who doesn’t fall for New York City during the holidays? But back then and every time since, the intense admiration he feels for New York during his stays can be overwhelming – almost like a spiritual experience. As a born and bred New Yorker I have no problem agreeing with anyone that New York City is the center of the world and it’s always fun to hear someone describe their love for it, particularly when they fall head over heels on their first visit.
One of Sammy’s reasons for returning year after year is that he’s developed a nasty lens habit. Camera lens, that is. You see, Sammy has a Facebook page that has countless albums with anywhere from 2,000 – 4,000 photos, practically all of them of his beloved city. (He’s not sure of the exact number but thinks that estimate is close since he has about 5,000 images on his hard drives.) Back in September he had around 250 friends and now he has over 1,400 from all over the world.
In fact, on his last trip this past October, on Halloween Day, he was making his way back from Pier 17, snapping away on South Street as he headed over to the financial district, when he noticed two women looking at him. One of them approached and asked in a very heavy Spanish accent, “Excuse me, are you Sammy? Sammy Boo-kin?”
He recalls that he kind of froze and immediately thought, how the hell does she know my name? It turned out her name was Barbara and she and her friend were from Argentina. Barbara had friended Sammy on Facebook a year and a half ago. She admired his photographs so much that she felt compelled to visit New York and take in the sights that Sammy has spent the past 6 years photographing.
He chatted with Barbara and her friend for a few minutes, took some pictures and when they parted Sammy admits, “After that, I had to sit down for awhile.” His brush with celebrity was a bit too much to take in.
Boykin’s a Tallahassee native who moved to Atlanta as a young man in 1982. Trained in the culinary arts, he’s worked as sous chef in several Atlanta kitchens over the years but 7 years ago made the switch to the front of the house where he claims there’s less stress and the tips make it more worthwhile.
Back in 2004 when he played drums in a local band with some friends, he joined some band mates on a trip to the northeast. One of the guys had a relative in New Jersey where they stayed for a bit and Sammy convinced another friend to join him on a side trip to the Big Apple. He had always wanted to visit and thought he’d be crazy to miss the opportunity since it was only a commuter train ride away.
The first few subsequent visits Sammy made, he only took photos with a disposable camera until one day a friend suggested he get a standard point and shoot digital, since he seemed to have a pretty good eye. He has since graduated to a digital SLR and has probably worn out a flashcard or two (or three or four), but has made many other NYC lovers very happy.
Sammy takes pictures of everything, from gorgeously intricate old-style architecture (I particularly like the photos of the cast iron buildings in Lower Manhattan) to glass skyscrapers to the fire escapes of apartment buildings on the Lower East Side to the reflections of historic townhomes and brownstones that he finds in street puddles after it rains. He ventures into Brooklyn, crossing over the Brooklyn or Williamsburg Bridges on foot, and he’s been to both the Bronx and Staten Island. He hasn’t ventured yet into Queens but this writer urged him to try Astoria where many popular local Greek restaurants can be found as well as the neighborhoods of Sunnyside and Long Island City, just over the 59th Street Bridge. And of course, Flushing Meadow Park, a little farther out.
As he ruminates about why he’s so entranced with New York and it’s endless streets, myriad subway tunnels, enticing storefronts, fabulous views, one of-a-kind neighborhoods, countless restaurants and some of the most interesting street corner characters in the world, he finally says, “It’s like meeting and falling in love with the most beautiful and fascinating woman in the world; you have a great time and unfortunately you know you’ll never see her again.”
So I ask him why he doesn’t just pick up and move there.
Aside from it being too expensive, Sammy answers, “I love red velvet cake. It’s my favorite dessert of all. If I moved to New York, it would be the same as having red velvet cake every day.”
Editor’s note: In the gallery of photos, above, the photo of the man and woman are Sammy Boykin and Barbara, his number one fan from Argentina. To see the thousands more photos he’s taken, you may friend Sammy on Facebook.
