Brooklyn Community Board 2 voted yesterday to approve a petition that seeks to rename a block in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood after the Notorious B.I.G., per Rolling Stone. The dedication would rename the stretch of St. James Place between Gates Avenue and Fulton Street, where Biggie Smalls grew up, “Christopher Wallace Way.” The proposal is expected to receive approval from the New York City Council and Mayor Bill De Blasio, Rolling Stone reports.
The petition follows several civil honors bestowed on the late rapper in recent years. In 2016, the Brooklyn borough president declared Biggie’s May 21 birthday Notorious B.I.G. Day. Last year, New York officially renamed a set of newly renovated game courts near Clinton Hill’s Crispus Attucks playground the Christopher “Biggie” Wallace Courts. Likewise, the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets unveiled this month alternate jerseys that pay tribute to Biggie with trimming that nods to the rapper’s beloved Coogi sweaters.
Here’s a clip from of Biggie freestyling on the streets of Bed-Stuy at the age of 17.
