The New York City Council voted unanimously Friday to officially honor three of the five boroughs’ most revered artists – the Notorious B.I.G., the Wu-Tang Clan and Woody Guthrie – with streets named in their honor.
The Brooklyn block where the Notorious B.I.G. grew up – located on St. James Place between Fulton Street and Gates Avenue – will be renamed Christopher Wallace Way after the rapper’s birth name, while Staten Island’s Vanderbilt Avenue and Targee Street will tentatively be called Wu-Tang Clan District, Gothamist reports. In November, the Brooklyn Community Board 2 voted to approve the re-naming petition of Christopher Wallace Way, setting the stage for Friday’s vote.
Cultural advocate LeRoy McCarthy spearheaded the efforts to rename the streets after the legendary hip-hop acts. “I’m happy that NYC officials are finally giving the city’s indigenous ‘Hip Hop’ music the respect and recognition that it deserves. It took a long time and lots of hard work to advance the Christopher Wallace Way & Wu-Tang Clan District street co-naming, but ya know what, Hip Hop Don’t Stop,” McCarthy told Gothamist.
Additionally, Woody Guthrie Way located at Coney Island’s Mermaid Avenue between West 35th and West 36th marks the section of Brooklyn where the folk legend lived in the early 1940s.
Although the New York City Council voted 68-0 to approve the street name changes, the measures are pending until Mayor Bill de Blasio signs off his approval.
In 2013, Brooklyn’s Palmetto Park was renamed Adam Yauch Park as a tribute to the late Beastie Boys member.