Staten Island intersection is renamed to honor legacy of the Wu-Tang Clan
Photo by Jeff Reed, courtesy of NYC Council/Flickr
Following a unanimous New York City Council vote back in December, The Wu-Tang Clan was made a permanent part of New York City on Saturday when the Park Hill neighborhood of Staten Island was renamed The Wu-Tang Clan District. As CNN first reported, city officials, fans, community members, and several Wu-Tang members gathered for the unveiling of the new street sign—located at the corner of Targee Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, where the music video for “Can It All Be So Simple” was filmed—that makes it official. “I never saw this day coming,” Ghostface Killah said in a speech at the event. “I knew we were some ill MCs, but I didn’t know that it’d take it this far.”
Photo by Jeff Reed, courtesy of NYC Council/Flickr
“The Wu-Tang Clan District is a celebration of their inspiration to the world—and a celebration of their home, Shaolin,” Debi Rose, a New York City Council Member who represents Staten Island’s North Shore wrote on Twitter. “The Wu-Tang Clan turned their experiences growing up here into something that now resonates with people all over the world, with young people who live in urban settings, young people whose neighborhoods are underserved, young people who face economic and social challenges.”
Efforts to name the Wu-Tang Clan District were led by music enthusiast and advocate LeRoy McCarthy, who first started lobbying for the name change in 2013. As 6sqft previously reported, McCarthy was also responsible for stenciling “Aretha” at the Franklin Avenue subway station in Brooklyn following the passing of Aretha Franklin, which led the MTA to erect an official “Respect” sign in the singer’s honor.
He got more momentum this month when Brooklyn Community Board 2 voted to rename the stretch of St. James Place between Gates Avenue and Fulton Street “Christopher Wallace Way” in honor of Notorious B.I.G., and is working to confirm street co-naming legislation for Beastie Boys Square in Manhattan and Big Pun Place in The Bronx. “These last two honorees will complete my objective of landmarks in all five NYC boroughs towards recognition of hip-hop culture and art by the NYC government,” he said in a statement to Gothamist.
[Via CNN]
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