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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, JUNE 16, 2019
JULY 2019 FREE OUTDOOR CONCERT SERIES
JULY 6 | 8:00 PM
JULY 13 | 8:00 PM
SPONSORED BY BROOKLYN BOROUGH PRESIDENT ERIC L. ADAMS
FANTINE & THE FRENCH
HORN COLLECTIVE
JULY 20 | 8:00 PM
DAVINA AND
THE VAGABONDS
JULY 27 | 8:00 PM
NICOLE ZURAITIS &
THE DAN PUGACH NONET
THE GEORGE GEE
SWING ORCHESTRA
(718) 368-5596 | www.OnStageAtKingsborough.org
Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Blvd., Brooklyn
GEORGE GEE by Lynn Redmile; FANTINE & THE FRENCH HORN COLLECTIVE: Courtesy of the artist; DAVINA AND THE VAGABONDS by Garrett Born; NICOLE ZURAITIS & THE DAN PUGACH NONET by Derek Prospero
A B.I.G. DEAL: The new street sign pays homage to the block of St. James Place, between Gates
Avenue and Fulton Street, where Wallace grew up. Photos by Trey Pentecost
Spreading love
‘Biggie Smalls’ fans celebrate legendary
late rapper at Clinton Hill street co-naming
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
It’s the Brooklyn way.
Devotees of the late
rapper Christopher “Biggie
Smalls” Wallace
braved the Monday morning
downpour to celebrate
the long-awaited conaming
of a Clinton Hill
street in honor of the hip
hop legend.
The rapper’s family,
his fans, and several local
pols honored the Brooklyn
native at the June 10
christening of the block
on St. James Place where
he grew up, between Gates
Avenue and Fulton Street,
as “Christoper ‘Notorious
B.I.G.’ Wallace Way,”
which one far-flung follower
said showed Kings
County’s love for one of
its most famous sons.
“It was really heartfelt.
I could feel the Brooklyn
love for him,” said Dawn
Welty, who made the 900-
mile journey from Milwaukee,
Wisc., with her
sister Xochilth Rueda for
a long weekend to pay
tribute to the wordsmith.
“It was amazing, even
though it was raining —
but I didn’t care, it was
great.”
The event’s speakers
reminisced about the musician’s
infl uence on the
neighborhood, including
one local pol who said
Wallace — who was fatally
shot in 1997 at the age of
24 — continues to inspire
Kings Countians through
his art to this day.
“Biggie Smalls created
the soundtrack of
inspiration that gave us
the growth and ability to
create success in Brooklyn,”
said Councilwoman
Laurie Cumbo (D-Clinton
Hill), who hosted the ceremony
together with the
Christopher Wallace Memorial
Foundation, the
foundation founded by
Wallace’s mother Voletta
after her son’s death.
The legislator was
joined by several other
politicos and Wallace’s
family, who spoke touchingly
about him against
the backdrop of his classic
tracks, according to
Welty.
“Once his music was
playing, it was just love,”
the Midwesterner said.
“And then his mom was
talking and I got choked
up because I could tell
that it was emotional for
her as well.”
Cumbo has advocated
for the city to honor Wallace’s
block, where he
grew up at 226 St James
Pl., despite resistance by
some locals over the last
six years to honoring the
rapper, saying that his
misogynistic and violent
lyrics should disqualify
him from receiving a tribute,
reported DNAInfo at
the time.
In 2017 , Bedford-
Stuyvesant legislator
Robert Cornegy proposed
to name Clinton Hill basketball
courts after the
musician, after the first
street co-naming in 2013
fizzled.
Last fall, Brooklyn
artist LeRoy McCarthy
— who also worked to
honor the late soul singer
Aretha Franklin with
signs at Crown Heights’s
Franklin Avenue subway
station — resubmitted his
proposal to Community
Board 2, whose members
overwhelmingly voted to
approve the new street
sign last November .
TRUE FAN: Crown Heights
resident Ruth Connell braved
the downpour to celebrate the
street co-naming for the late
rapper Christopher “Biggie
Smalls” Wallace in Clinton Hill
on June 10.
/www.OnStageAtKingsborough.org