My Crest, My City: New York City

One jacket, 28 crests, endless stories. Over the course of the MLS season, we will be shipping a custom jacket to creators across North America to highlight the diverse and vibrant soccer cultures of various destinations in MLS with the help of Participation Trophy Studio. 

As the grassroots soccer community in the U.S. continues to grow coast-to-coast, we are seeing the emergence of exciting creative talent searching for opportunities to break into the world of soccer. This project allows us to showcase emerging creatives through shoots with an exclusive “MLS” themed coach’s jacket. The 1/1 jacket, created by Participation Trophy Studio, is a classic black coach’s jacket decorated with patches from every MLS club. The jacket will travel from city to city and be worn by local models in kits from each respective city.

For our fourth installment, we caught up with New York-based photographers Sebastian Ramirez and Leonel Pillcorema to talk about the inspiration behind their project in their city.

You both have been covering NYCFC and the New York soccer scene in general for quite a while. What was it like for you guys to collaborate on a project like this?

Sebas: I'm not sure if any of the other destinations are doing it like this, but being the first to do this as two people was great. And it’s funny because even before either of us started covering soccer, I was living in Bushwick near Leo. We were contacting each other through Instagram, and we’ve been in touch ever since just from playing pickup or shooting soccer. By covering these MLS teams and linking up with Club Eleven, we have basically formed a new friendship out of the blue through soccer and photography. Leo is at every game that I’m at, and it’s always a cool vibe, so it was dope to be able to work together.

Leo: Yeah, we met through Instagram, out of the blue. I think I noticed that you were taking pictures of soccer stuff, and I was just getting into that too. After that, we just kept seeing each other at games. And seeing your work, I was just like, ‘this is the guy right here. He understands’

Both of you guys have lived in New York pretty much your entire lives. Did you follow any of the teams there growing up?

Sebas: Yeah, I went to a lot of MetroStars games with my teammates or my family. We would always go to Giants Stadium, and those are probably my earliest memories of seeing professional soccer. When they made the transition to Red Bull Arena, I started going to games more by myself, but I have always followed the New York soccer scene and tried to be there.

Leo: I loved watching soccer growing up, but I never made it over to a game when I was a kid. I wasn’t even too aware that there was a team. My first game was a Red Bulls match, probably in 2015, really. 

And what was it like when New York City FC came onto the scene?

Sebas: For me, I was really excited. Following the other New York teams and always having to go to Jersey was a little bit of a hassle. Hearing about an MLS team that would be playing in our actual city was something I really looked forward to. Initially, I was extremely hype.

Leo: Just getting to see New York City FC come onto the soccer scene was pretty cool. I loved seeing Pirlo coming over and David Villa too. They really got me into the team. They’re big names, and it’s amazing to be able to see these stars here in America, and especially New York. We’re definitely lucky because not everyone gets that. 

What are some of your favorite memories covering and following the team?

Sebas: I was super excited to cover a game the first time in 2017. I was definitely underprepared because I didn't have the proper equipment at the time, but just being on the sidelines and being able to catch the little moments of the game was definitely something that I was super stoked about. My favorite moment following the team was when I traveled to Philadelphia, though, to watch NYCFC play the Union. I was trying to take pictures of everybody from the stands and that game we won with a late goal by Villa. He scored from midfield, and the stadium just went nuts. In the post-match, everybody who traveled was going crazy in the parking lot. 

Leo: The first team I shot in New York was the Red Bulls in 2018, and then in 2019, I started covering NYCFC. Just like Sebas, though, my favorite moment didn’t happen shooting a game. 

I went with some friends to the stadium, and I think Maxi Moralez scored a crazy goal, and the whole place went nuts. We ended up on TV, and they showed us cheering, going crazy. But another good memory with NYCFC is when I got to take a selfie with Pirlo or when I covered an event with Pirlo where he brought the Champions League trophy. Sebas was there for that too.

Speaking of your experiences with NYCFC, what is your favorite thing about the club?

Sebas: Currently, my favorite thing about NYCFC is that they're trying to create more small-sided street fields throughout the five boroughs. So that's an initiative that I appreciate and that we hadn’t really seen much from other teams in the past. That part of giving back to the community is something that I appreciate them for. 

Leo: What I really appreciate is that they're making the soccer culture known here in New York because I think there were a lot of sports fans here that maybe didn’t know about it, and now they’re getting into it. I like that they’re spreading that culture that we all love. 

Tying into New York soccer culture, what was the inspiration behind your My Crest, My City project. 

Sebas: Leo and I got in touch, and we just thought that doing everything on film would be the perfect way to do it. That way, there’d be no post-work, and all the images would be true. We wanted to show a real New Yorker point of view. By being in the Bronx, by being by the stadium, by being on the train, I just wanted to show a New York minute without any post-processing or making anything look better than it actually was. Leo also always has his film camera or a small point-and-shoot camera, so that was a big inspiration to use disposables and film for our project.

Leo: Yeah, I always like to have all these instant cameras and stuff on me. But my thought process was trying to get that really New York-style ‘feel,’ and film was the perfect way to portray that. We wanted that old-school, gritty, New York vibe. 

With so many spots to choose from in New York, why did you choose the locations you did?

Sebas: I mean, as you said, New York has an abundance of locations to choose from, but we wanted it to be something very iconic or just true to the team, which is the stadium. Even though Yankee Stadium is not a soccer-specific field, it's a stadium that's known worldwide. We also wanted to shoot something that's very daily-life in New York, like the train. You even use the train to commute to the stadium, so it fits. 

Leo: We also wanted to focus on a place where there’s everything that New York has to offer. At Yankee Stadium, we had the stadium, obviously, then the train, and the park. We wanted to show what it's like to walk around the stadium, maybe waiting for the game to start, meeting up with friends before kick-off, just all of that vibe. Yankee Stadium is not a soccer-specific stadium, but we wanted to highlight where NYCFC has its home. 

What are some things you hope people from outside New York City will take from your project?

Sebas: I hope that they see a different side of New York. I hope they realize that maybe not everything is glamorous. You know, it's always big lights and things like that. It rained on the day that we were shooting, and it kind of gave the pictures a very moody tone. I hope they see a different perspective.

Leo: We could have easily picked Times Square or by the Freedom Tower. Everybody knows those spots. We just wanted to show how the regular block looks like. The park we were at could easily be on a regular corner in the Bronx. 

Sebas: Yeah, and coincidentally, there's a soccer field right outside of Yankee Stadium too, and I feel like a lot of people probably don't even know that. It’s called Macombs Dam Park. That field has been around even before the team, so I thought it was a cool detail that shows that even though NYCFC is new, soccer has been around here forever. 

Even though the club is fairly new in relative terms, what do you think New York City FC means to the city?

Sebas: To sum it up in one word, it probably stands for hope... as in we hopefully get to play in a soccer stadium in New York one day. But yeah, I think it stands for hope. 

Leo: To me, it stands for ‘hopefully success.’ I think we’re really trying to push forward the soccer culture to survive out here. And like Sebas said, hopefully, we succeed in getting a soccer stadium within the five boroughs. 

We’ve talked about the club, and we’ve talked about the city. But what do you think of the crest?

Sebas: I like it. I think it's pretty straightforward and clean. I'm glad that they've tried to include some orange and some navy because the New York flag is blue, white, and orange.  So the crest is something that I've liked, and fortunately, they were one of the first new teams to incorporate the FC moniker. Now it’s starting to get played out, but it was cool back then that they kept it clean with FC.

Leo: I like it too. It represents New York, and it has our colors from the Excelsior flag, which is pretty cool. Many teams get hate these days for their crests and everything, but I got nothing against this crest. 

So is New York red or blue?

Sebas: It’s both. Neither team has any dominance, and they’re both playing in Jersey right now. So let's keep it real, I’m not one of the new school fans. Whichever team puts the stadium here first, then they claim the city and say it’s whatever color they want. 

Leo: It’s purple. As Sebas said, whoever gets into the five boroughs can claim the color. 

Make sure to check out Leo and Sebas’ work, and keep an eye out for the next edition of My Crest, My City coming next month.

Photography by Leonel Pillcorema & Sebastian Ramirez.

Model: Jason Kusimo.

Jacket: Participation Trophy Studio.