Bed-Stuy Gets Its Christopher 'Biggie' Wallace Basketball Court

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — Biggie’s music was blasting as neighborhood kids darted across the basketball courts that now officially bear the late rap artist’s name.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony at the newly-dubbed Christopher “Biggie” Wallace Courts brought together Wallace’s family, New York City Councilman Robert Cornegy, and a crowd of locals who came to honor the legacy of Bed-Stuy’s own iconic rap star.

In his address Wednesday morning, Cornegy said he fought for the courts to be renamed in order to honor Biggie’s legacy, to keep a promise he made Biggie’s mother, Voletta Wallace, and to preserve a vital piece of the neighborhood’s history in the face of rapid change.

“This community is under siege, as it relates to gentrification,” said Cornegy. “I don’t care who lives here, you come in this park, you’re gonna have to know who Biggie Smalls was.”

Cornegy recalled the promise he made Mrs. Wallace — who appeared at the sign unveiling Wednesday along with Biggie’s daughter T’yanna Wallace — 20 years earlier when attempts to rename St. James Place after Biggie failed.

But although Cornegy remembered having tears in his eyes when he made that promise, he insisted the celebration remain upbeat, and called for a quick dance party because the event was, “Not a funeral.”

Wallace, who made hip hop history with his platinum albums “Ready To Die” and “Life After Death,” grew up on nearby St. James Place and used to play basketball with Cornegy on the courts that now bear his name.

The ceremony came three days before the annual Dream B.I.G. Youth Basketball Tournament, which has been honoring the rapper every summer for the past six years, is slated to begin.

Several of the players who will compete in the tournament came out to play ball on Wednesday to give the newly refurbished courts a test run.

Biggie's honorary plaque came with a $2.5 million renovation to the Crispus Attucks playground, which got new playground equipment, handball courts, wheelchair-accessible ramps and gardens, according to the Parks Department.

Photos by Kathleen Culliton