Historic Biggie Smalls Mural In Brooklyn Is Being Destroyed By Greedy Landlord

A few updates on "king Of NY" Mural: we just want everyone to know that Spread Art NYC, your humble community Art organization has been working real hard to keep this mural up for the past year! Landlord always calls us and Claims that the neighbors are complaining about the mural and the crowds it attracts. About 4 months ago, he told us about the construction he will be doing which will damage the mural in the process. He will be opening Windows on the wall to increase rent profit by $500 according to them. Today Spread Art NYC offered $5000 (which we planned to gather from the community and the fans) not to open the windows. Unfortunately, that offer was declined and it was answered by a counteroffer of $1250 a month. At this point, there is nothing Spread Art NYC can do to save this mural. We will continue to serve our neighborhoods regardless!! Community is our goal, we like to give back and we thought A biggie mural at the corner of #bedfordandquincy was needed to keep the culture alive, to keep Brooklyn Alive. We always say, Brooklyn is Biggie and Biggie is Brooklyn. A landlord can NEVER change that! We want to thank everyone for the love! We promise, we GOT YOU!!!#spreadartnyc #20bigyears #bedstuy #bedfordstuyvesant #biggie #kingofny #livefrombedfordstuyvesant #spreadloveitsthebrooklynway

A post shared by Spread Art NYC (@spreadartnyc) on May 15, 2017 at 4:41pm PDT

Please Give Biggie One More Chance!

Two years ago, artists Naoufal “Rocko” Alaoui and Scott “Zimer” Zimmerman, created a luxuriorus mural of the late Notorious B.I.G. on the side of an apartment building located in Brooklyn. The mural depicts the “Juicy” rapper with a gold crown and chain. The words “King of NY” loom over his head. While some enjoy the mural, others have complained about their neighborhood’s property value being affected negatively. The building’s landlord, Samuel Berkowitz, has made plans to rid of the painting altogether.

“Why should I keep it?” Berkowitz said to DNAInfo, “I could demolish the building if I wanted to. I don’t need no permission from anyone except the DOB.”

A nonprofit, Spread Art NYC, offered Berkowitz $5,000 to keep the mural intact, but Brekowitz counter offered with $1,250 a month. Unfortunately, the organization could not meet Berkowitz’s high demands. Berkowitz plans on installing windows on the wall in order to increase rent by a measly $500.

Hmph. Is $500 worth destroying art meant to honor a legend?