BQT Shirts came into existence at least in part as a result of the Great Recession. Laid off from our jobs at one of the nation’s largest junk mailer and spammer (or as polite society calls it, “direct marketer”), Dan Gordon and myself, Frank Nunziata, wanted to start a business that we could call our own. Something fun, something creative, something that resonated with our fellow New Yorkers, especially in our home boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. We sought a venture that stood in direct contrast to the old-fashioned, wasteful and unimaginative companies we had worked for over the years.
T-shirts, in all their simple, practical and accessible glory seemed to be a good place to start. T-shirts can advocate, make a political statement, be funny and of course have style. Plus, they’re an excellent vehicle for many of our friends who are designers, artists and all-around creative people.
So in September 2010, BQT came to life. Trains, bikes, dogs, parks, bridges, the day-to-day milieu that every New Yorker simultaneously abhors, adores and ultimately tolerates and celebrates—these are the things that BQT is all about. And always with a splash of style and spunk that New York’s creative community is famous for.
We’d like to thank Cathy for allowing us to contribute to her wonderful blog and we invite all of you to visit us at http://www.bqtshirts.com. We will be expanding our product line monthly and submissions of t-shirt ideas and designs are always welcome. We look forward to hearing from you.
Update on 2011-01-24 22:17 by NYC Subway Girl
Nice to see blogging life come full circle, here's the comment from the BQT Shirts website
January 20th,2011 Cathy Grier, aka NYC Subway Girl, is a dynamic singer-songwriter, activist and all-around cool person. You might have seen her perform; since 1999 she’s participated in the MTA’s Music Under New York Program. So while we may do quite a bit of MTA bashing around here, we have to give them credit for at least one thing: bringing Cathy’s funky, groovy, folked-up blues to our chaotic underground.
When we told Cathy about our Dislike The Fare Hike shirt, she was kind enough to let us post a guest entry on her blog, nycsubwaygirl.com. There’s lots of great stuff to read, listen to and watch on Cathy’s blog, so check it out. We promise it will be a much more pleasant experience than your daily commute.