Last week a Brooklyn, N.Y., landlord threatened to remove a Biggie Smalls mural created by Spread Art NYC in order to make room for new windows. But on Monday, local activists reached an agreement with the landlord.
The mural, which has been on the building in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood since 2015, was an eyesore and drew unnecessary foot traffic around the building, according to the landlord, Samuel Berkowitz. Berkowitz said last week that the building was his and that he could do whatever he wanted with it, including removing the mural.
However, on Monday a spokesperson with Spread Art NYC said that an agreement had been reached with Berkowitz, and the mural will remain for now.
“He is such a nice and giving person. We want everyone to thank him for keeping the Biggie mural,” Naoufal “Rocko” Alaoui of Spread Art NYC told PIX11. “He didn’t realize who Biggie was and how important Biggie is to Brooklyn.”
A petition was also created last week and garnered over 3,800 signatures, but the art organization requested that the petition be removed from Change.org.