International Perspective: Brooklyn wins fight to preserve mural

A huge mural of The Notorious B.I.G on the side of a house in Brooklyn was set to be destroyed due to the owner’s plans to renovate the building.



The Notorious B.I.G. an American rapper who died in 1997 who featured in the mural that was potentially going to be destroyed.

The owner of the building that featured the mural, Samuel Berkowitz, had originally demanded $1,250 a month to keep the mural in place but fans had not been able to come up with the money. When asked about the mural, Mr Berkowitz had stated: “why should I keep it? I don’t even see the point of the discussion. I could demolish the building if I wanted to”.

Fans had been up in arms and, as a result of a petition signed by thousands (and some negative media attention), the mural has now been officially landmarked which means that the landlord is unable to make any changes to the facade of the building without permission from the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission. It has been 20 years since his untimely death but Biggie Smalls is still causing a stir.

This article features in the Hughes Paddison Summer 2017 Property Disputes Update. You can view a summary of the full content of the newsletter and download a copy here.