The Fabulous 5ive @149st

THE FABULOUS 5IVE
The Fab 5ive was the most admired whole car crew in New York City. Fab 5 was unique in several ways. First, once the base membership was established they did not recruit. Secondly, many of the main members were from Staten Island which is disconnected from the subway system, yet they became legends. Third point being it was a crew focused almost exclusively on whole cars. They worked predominantly on the RRs, 2s and 5s. They pushed writing to the limit. They created detailed murals inspiring their peers and amazing the public. They frequently topped the transit police's most wanted list. The FAB 5 would join the short list of crews to do a whole train (10 cars). The Whole Train was done by DOC, LEE, MONO, SLAVE.
FAB 5ive members: DIRTY SLUG, MONO 105.2, DOC109, PROF 165, OG 2, BLUD, SONY, BOB, SLAVE, DEL, LEE. The most prolific members were DIRTY SLUG, MONO 105.2 DOC109, SLAVE and LEE

DIRTY SLUG was the original president. He was doing whole cars in early fab 5 history. In addition to 5s and 2s he also did many whole cars on the RRs.

DOC 109 from Staten Island did many whole cars with detailed scenery on the 5s and 2s during the mid '70s, then quit in 1977, but not before contributing to the whole train.

MONO also from Staten Island along with his brother BLUD and DOC 109 established a FAB 5 residence/club house on Stanton St. in lower Manhattan. This location made for easy access to The Bridge and The Bowery BMT lay ups. It also made them neighbors with LEE. Mono quit in early 1978 but did a single comeback piece with LEE and FAB 5 FREDDIE in 1979.

SLAVE from Brooklyn's Crown Heights was a newer FAB 5 member. SLAVE associated with writers from The Odd Partners and The Crew, such as HURST, HATE, MOVIN who bombed with throw ups. At one point SLAVE even did throw ups under the alias RO. But throw ups are hardly what slave became known for. SLAVE did many beautiful top to bottoms with the FAB 5. He continued to write when much of FAB 5 had quit. SLAVE was also well accomplished in wild style, keeping Brooklyn on the map. He wrote with people like GLI 167 and PART ONE TDS and produced many cars. He rejoined LEE for a comeback in 1979.

LEE, the youngster of the group would turn out to become the most famous member of the crew. LEE had been writing independently in the mid '70s and soon meet up with the FAB 5. They discovered that they shared a common objective: bomb with whole cars. LEE was known for his ability to illustrate and precise paint control (years before German thin caps). LEE would be instrumental in the realization of the "Whole Train Dream". He along with SLAVE would keep the FAB 5 name alive long after the others retired.
Lee's more recent work

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