The New York City Breakers are an original B-boy group in early 1980s that was established in the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

borough of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The group originally consisted of members from Wildstyle and "Floor Master Crew"

History

The New York City Breakers are a breaking crew from the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx originally known as the Floor Masters Michael Holman an up-and-coming filmmaker who promoted Hip-Hop parties at a night club called Negril. He Grew bored of watching the same breaking crew dance and wanted to host a Breaking Battle. The Floor Master Crew accepted an invitation in 1982 offering to battle rival crew at club Negril. They combined footwork,style and power. FMC went on in 1982 to battle more rivals crews on ''

That's Incredible ''That's Incredible!'' is an American reality television show that aired on the ABC television network from 1980 to 1984. In the tradition of ''You Asked for It'', ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' and ''Real People'', the show featured people pe ...

'' '' Michael Holman'' saw the crews potential athleticism and soon after signed on to be their manager with the help of the legendary '' B-boy'' Lil Lep from the 7 Deadly Sins Crew same block where the famous ''

Tracy 168 TRACY 168 (born Michael Tracy in 1958) is an American graffiti artist. He pioneered the art form known as Wildstyle. Tracy 168 came to be known as one of the most influential graffiti and street artists of all time, as variations of Wild Style writ ...

'' '' Wildstyle'' crew lived a big influence on Uptown '' B-boys'', and with the help of writer

PHASE 2 Michael Lawrence Marrow (August 2, 1955 – December 12, 2019), known as PHASE 2 and Lonny Wood, was an American aerosol paint artist based in New York City. Mostly active in the 1970s, Phase 2 is generally credited with originating the "bubble l ...

renamed the crew New York City Breakers. Holman then took some of the Breakers from Floor Master Crew Action, Kid Nice, Glide Master.Holman worked with Chino Lopez founder of The Floor Masters a visionary himself to find and recruit new members to build The New York City Breakers. Chino told Holman about a one in a million '' B-boy'' who would really make the crew a force to contend with. This mystery dancer turned out to be Tony Lopez aka ''

Powerful Pexster Power most often refers to: * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events ** Abusive power Power may ...

'' who was everything Chino promised as a dancer and more, with Powerful Pexster's

power moves Power moves are dance moves which are loosely defined as moves relying on speed, momentum, and acrobatic elements for performance. They are prominent in B-boying, often the centerpieces of routines featuring the other elements (toprock, downrock, ...

extraordinaire some credit Pex with being one of the greatest Old School '' B-boy''s who ever rocked a floor. Chino's aka ''Action'' the master of neck moves, Noel Manguel's aka ''

Kid Nice Kid, Kids, KIDS, and K.I.D.S. may refer to: Common meanings * Colloquial term for a child or other young person ** Also for a parent's offspring regardless of age * Engage in joking * Young Goat, goats * The goat meat of young goats * Kidskin, ...

'' unique head glides, Mathew Caban aka '' Glide Master'' unbelievable fist glides, '' Lil Lep'' the wise one a head spin and swipe master the original five NYC Breakers were born. Soon after Lil Lep introduced his friend Bobby Potts aka '' Flip Rock'' whose flips and footwork instantly put him into the crew then after adding Tony Draughon aka Tony '' Mr.Wave'' Wesley, the NYC Breakers became one of the most famous and influential B-boy and '' Hip Hop'' crews in the world. The first performance the original five NYCBs was on the nationally televised show called ''The Merv Griffin Show''.Soon after, the NYCBs began appearing on everything from music videos

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Kn ...

Flash and the Furious Five to Madonna(entertainer) live shows all around the world ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series w ...

'', ''

Ripley's Believe It or Not! ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' feat ...

'', '' P.M. Magazine'', ''

CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featuring news reports, feature s ...

'', ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'', ''Amnesty International Gala'', ''

That's Incredible! ''That's Incredible!'' is an American reality television show that aired on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network from 1980 in television, 1980 to 1984 in television, 1984. In the tradition of ''You Asked for It'', ''List of ...

'', and ''

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'' just to name a few. ''

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'', ''

Beat Street ''Beat Street'' is a 1984 American drama dance film featuring New York City hip hop culture of the early 1980s. Set in the South Bronx, the film follows the lives of a pair of brothers and their group of friends, all of whom are devoted to var ...

'', ', and are some of the noteworthy feature films they appeared in as well a cameo in '' Body Rock''. The NYCBs appeared on the first ever Hip Hop TV show called ''

Graffiti Rock ''Graffiti Rock'' was a hip-hop based television program, originally aired on June 28, 1984. Intended as an ongoing series, the show only received one pilot episode and aired on WPIX channel 11 in New York City and 88 markets around the country, ...

'' they were featured in the book entitle "Breaking and The New York City Breakers" published in the fall of 1984 by Freundlich Books, and released an Album Break-Master Featuring New York City Breakers that went gold with Posters and array of how to break steps and how to judge a breaking competition battle. But are best known as the first ever Hip Hop group or artists to perform in Washington D.C for a sitting President, specifically Ronald Reagan, during the 1984, "

Kennedy Center Honors The Kennedy Center Honors are annual honors given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. They have been presented annually since 1978, culminating each December in a gala celebrating five hono ...

." The performance was broadcast nationally on CBS, and is considered a landmark for the acceptance of Hip Hop culture in America mainstream While performing in tribute to legendary choreographer and Kennedy Center Honoree

Katherine Dunham Katherine Mary Dunham (June 22, 1909 – May 21, 2006) was an American dancer, choreographer, anthropologist, and social activist. Dunham had one of the most successful dance careers of the 20th century, and directed her own dance company for ma ...

at the Kennedy Center Honors, the NYC Breakers befriended

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

, also an Honoree that year who was so impressed by the NYCB's performance.After ''

'' world tour finished '' Glide Master'' crashed on a motorcycle that's when Chino Action Lopez found Lil Alex next generation of B-boys. Then

wrote a letter to Chino invited NYCB to perform again at the 50th Presidential Inaugural Gala for ''

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

'' and ''

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushSince around 2000, he has been usually called George H. W. Bush, Bush Senior, Bush 41 or Bush the Elder to distinguish him from his eldest son, George W. Bush, who served as the 43rd president from 2001 to 2009; pr ...

'' where Lil Alex performed his first and last show right after this show NYC Breakers officially broke up to never perform all together again. The N.Y.C Breakers were one of the first Hip Hop/ B-boy crews that helped spread Hip Hop culture around the globe.Touring and performing for Presidents, world leaders and royalty (including England's '' Duke of York'' Prince Andrew and the King and Queen of Norway), they will always be remembered as crucial pioneers of the B-boy and '' Hip Hop'' Culture.

Original Five Members

*Chino "Action" Lopez *Noel "Kid Nice" Mangual *Matthew "Glide Master" Caban *Tony "Powerful Pexster" Lopez *Ray "Lil Lep" Ramos

Additional Members

*Bobby "''Flip Rock" Potts *Dennis"''Kid Romance" Deleon *Tony "Mr. Wave" Draughon *Corey "Icey Ice" Montalvo *London "B-Boy London" Reyes *Alex "Lil Alex" Roman *Mitchell "Speedy Dee" Martinez *Luis "Alien Ness" Martinez *Takahiro "ENGIN#9" Fujita *Peter "BAM the Liquid Robot" Arizmendi

References

{{Reflist

External links

* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHYPQEdr5Lw * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcQmRKBLzzs American breakdancing groups American hip hop dance groups Organizations based in New York City