A huge The Notorious B.I.G. mural on the side of a Brooklyn building on Bedford Avenue and Quincy Street is set to be destroyed because the owner of the building wants to renovate.
The mural has been attracting tourists since it was painted in 2015, but the landlord, Samuel Berkowitz, says he plans remove it in order to add new windows. He secured permits for the work in March
Despite criticism, Berkowitz says he sees no reason to keep the mural there. “Let me rephrase the question: Why should I keep it?” he told DNAInfo. “I don’t even see the point of the discussion. I could demolish the building if I wanted to, I don’t need no permission from anyone except the DOB [Department of Buildings].”
Spread Art NYC, the collective affiliated with the mural’s artists Naoufal “Rocko” Alaoui and Scott “Zimer” Zimmerman, offered the landlord cash to keep the mural on the building. However, they could not demanded by Berkowitz.
“[The] landlord always calls us and claims that the neighbors are complaining about the mural and the crowds it attracts,” Spread Art NYC wrote in an Instagram post. “At this point, there is nothing Spread Art NYC can do to save this mural.”
