City Council approves Wu-Tang Clan District

First, the Wu-Tang Clan dubbed Staten Island “Shaolin,” now a chunk of it will be named in the hip-hop group’s honor.

The intersection of Vanderbilt Avenue and Targee Street will be co-named The Wu-Tang Clan District, pending Mayor Bill de Blasio’s support, thanks to a City Council vote that approved renaming streets in honor of the hip-hop group and two other musicians — Notorious B.I.G. (Christopher Wallace) and Woody Guthrie, according to the Gothamist.

The block where Biggie Smalls grew up in Bed-Stuy will be co-named Christopher Wallace Way, and the Coney Island avenue where Guthrie lived in the 1940s will now be known as Woody Guthrie Way.

LeRoy McCarthy advocated for the Smalls and Wu-Tang co-naming for “a long time.” After the city’s final vote of 2018 approved the co-naming, he told the publication, “I’m happy that NYC officials are finally giving the city’s indigenous ‘Hip Hop’ music the respect and recognition that it deserves… Hip Hop Don’t Stop.” [Gothamist] — Erin Hudson