Birthplace of hip-hop and late MC Pumpkinhead honoured in new renaming bill.

A new bill signed by New York City mayor Bill de Blasio will rename over 40 streets and places across the city’s five boroughs, including two hip-hop related changes.

The first, and arguably most significant, change was hinted at earlier this month. The Bronx block that houses 1520 Sedgwick Ave. will now officially be known as ‘Hip Hop Boulevard’. The building was the location of Kool Herc’s 1973 back to school jam, a party organised by his sister and long regarded as hip-hop’s inception point.

Another notable change honours the legacy of late MC Pumpkinhead, a 1990s underground legend who passed away in June 2015. Robert Alan Diaz will now live on in the ‘Robert PH Diaz Way’, located between Fourth and Fifth Avenues in Brooklyn.

Manny Faces, executive director for The Center of Hip-Hop Advocacy, released a statement following the announcement, stating “hip-hop delivers significant artistic and cultural contributions throughout the city, nation and world in areas including music, the arts, fashion, commerce and education, and we applaud New York City for recognizing and celebrating its historical and continuing importance.” [Via Complex]