The late Notorious BIG may have been too mean, too misogynistic and too fat to have a street corner named after him. Members of Brooklyn's Community Board No 2 are opposing the campaign, citing the rapper's criminal history, offensive song lyrics and hefty "physical appearance".
Local resident LeRoy McCarthy put forward the proposal that the corner of St James Place and Fulton Street be named Christopher Wallace Way. Biggie Smalls grew up and started dealing drugs in the Crown Heights neighbourhood; in one song, he referred to himself as "the heavy-set brother from Fulton Street". McCarthy won the backing of leaders from two nearby churches, a mosque and a local block association, DNAinfo New York reported, and about 4,000 people have signed his online petition.
Several local officials are unimpressed with the late rapper's pedigree. "I don't see how this guy was a role model, and frankly it offends me," said committee board member Lucy Koteen, according to DNAinfo. "He started selling drugs at 12, he was a school dropout at 17, he was arrested for drugs and weapons charges, he was arrested for parole violations, he was arrested in North Carolina for [cocaine possession], in 1996 he was again arrested for assault. He had a violent death, and physically the man is not exactly a role model for youth." Speaking to CBS New York, Koteen suggested that it's a matter of priorities: the borough "doesn't even have a Walt Whitman Way".
Board member Kenn Lowy, who owns Brooklyn Heights Cinema, attacked the MC's lyrics. "When is it OK to refer to women as bitches and hoes?" he allegedly asked.
For McCarthy, these criticisms miss the point. "Shakespeare [also] had off-colour language at his time, but he was an artist sharing a story in language that might not feel comfortable to [all] people in the community," he told the Village Voice. "You can't hold how somebody died against him," McCarthy said. "The way somebody looked, you can't hold that against them either – President [William Howard] Taft was very fat."
A decision on whether Christopher Wallace Way will go forward will have to wait. According to the board, McCarthy's application requires the approval of the district's city councillor, Letitia James, who is in the midst of an election campaign.
Meanwhile, less than 3 miles away, Brooklyn's Palmetto Playground was recently renamed Adam Yauch Park to honour the late Beastie Boy, who died in 2012.
