Pinpointing Biggie's Crib
A reader steered us to the photographs from a 2003 exhibition at the Robin Rice Gallery in the West Village. The photographer Micheal McLaughlin took a number of atmospheric black-and-white photos of Brooklyn scenes and landmarks, including the childhood home of Biggie Smalls and the Brooklyn Heights apartment of Truman Capote. We know that Capote’s…
A reader steered us to the photographs from a 2003 exhibition at the Robin Rice Gallery in the West Village. The photographer Micheal McLaughlin took a number of atmospheric black-and-white photos of Brooklyn scenes and landmarks, including the childhood home of Biggie Smalls and the Brooklyn Heights apartment of Truman Capote. We know that Capote’s place was on Willow Street and we’ve always been under the impression that Biggie lived on St. James Place in Clinton Hill. Can anyone i.d. the exact address of this apartment building?
BKLYN: Micheal McLaughlin [Robin Rice Gallery]
Lefferts Place between Franklin & Classon is Clinton Hill–wrong side of Bedford for Bedsty.
‘Cause Ballin, don’t know what you’re talking about. Clearly you are brand new to this(Brooklyn)I mean.
Circa late 70’s up until maybe mid to late 90’s Fulton and St. James was no joke.
In fact just down the east of there around Grand Ave. There are still remants of how things used to be.
If they were still giving out “hood passes” :yours would get revoked. Poverty is NOT the sole provence of projects. AND one can come from a somewhat stable home and still be enticed by the allure of the streets.
It’s kinda the reason why surburban kids buy raps records. As Nas said,”they love hear the stories, how the the thugs live and worry”
Wow Fort Greene Was Gangster,
Great to see some brownstoners truly know what Fort Greene was about in the early to mid 80’s.
I’m happy to see those days long gone!
Zip codes don’t define nieghborhoods Anonymous at December 28, 2006 2:05 PM.
Lefferts Place between Franklin & Classon has the 11238 zip. What nabe are you calling that?
Why is it sacrilege to say that Biggie was ‘fakin’ when he says that he grew up in Bed Stuy when in fact it was Clinton Hill? He didnt grow up in a project building nor was he subjected to the widespread poverty found in most of Bed Stuy… He grew up in a friggin Clinton Hill brownstone. How street is that?
Just keepin it real.
The area down dekalb to flatbush is in fact Ft. Greene…..
This area is and was Clinton Hill….it is the 11238 Zip.
That being said Clinton Hill was rough back then.
I agree with the last post about Ft. Greene being tough back in the day. My mom went to college over in clinton hill and the students did not walk down Dekalb for fear of their life…actually many of my moms classmates were robbed and beat. When I moved there my family was so afraid until they come down for a new look at all the changes!
Hey Ballin,
Back in the days Ft. Greene was no cake walk. There was Supreme Magnetic and his Supreme Team. Not to be confused with the Supreme Team of Kenneth Mc Griff/Queens fame. There was also the “Original” Fifty Cents (Who the rapper got his name from), Killer Ben O’Garra, (who still has a mural some where off Myrtle.) And host of others that had Ft. Greene POPPIN’ in a literal and figurative sense.