Among the slew of tributes that pepper the borough of Brooklyn in honor of the late Notorious B .I.G., a city councilman has now announced plans to rename a playground after the rapper in his native Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Councilman Robert Cornegy has announced his plans to cut the ribbon at what is now the Crispus Attucks Playground where the famed raper used to play ball next month.
“This honor is very personal to me,” says Cornegy. “Twenty years later, this comes full circle, this renaming of the basketball courts in his honor.”
While a basketball tournament held in BIG’s honor will be held on August 5, Cornegy says his plans are to hold the ceremony on August 1 or August 2.
Councilman Cornegy has long tried to honor in the slain artist, born Christopher Wallace.
In 2013, he attempted to get a part of St. James Place named after Wallace, but was met with push back from residents who had a problem with Biggie’s drug-dealing past and suggestive lyrics.
“We lived in the same building at 226 St. James Place in Brooklyn,” the councilman said. “We lived in 1R and Biggie and his mother lived in 3R. So when he passed his mother made me her director. I promised to keep his name honored.”
