http://www.unkut.com/2009/03/the-unkut-guide-to-hip-hops-most-notorious-projects-part-1/
NAME: Pink Houses
LOCATION: Linden Boulevard, Brooklyn.
ACTUAL FACTS: Louis Heaton Pink was a wealthy businessman who became chairman of the New York State Housing Board, and was dedicated to the notion that private and public housing efforts would eventually eradicate slums. Louis Heaton Pink Houses has twenty-two, 8-story buildings with 1,500 apartments. Established September 30, 1959, its current population is numbered at 3,810 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: High. In the mid-80’s Pink Houses was the home of the infamous street gang the A-Team. A generation later the project would spawn the notorious ‘Pink Houses Crew’, a twenty-deep team of thieves accused of stealing $2.5 million worth of jewelry during a dozen robberies that took place between 2003 and 2005. Legend has it that Pink Houses residents used to split sides before fights based on what floor they lived on (8th floor vs. 7th floor etc).
SMART DUMB CATS: Foxy Brown was allegedly robbed outside of Pink Hoses when she dumped her boyfriend after discovering he was a “small-time pimp”. Ironically, he then instructed three of his “employees” to jump her. Foxy was dragged out of her car and relieved of her purse containing $500 cash, her hair weave and her hearing aid. After fingering one of her attackers to police, Foxy later decided to “stop snitching” and instead denied the whole thing ever happened.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 1/5. Uncle Murda: “I’m from Pink Houses, but I fuck with Cypress niggas. I got a lot of problems with Pink Houses. I had a lot of shootouts in Pink Houses and I hurt a lot of people, so they don’t like me too much.”
LYRIC QUOTE: “And then I take a trip to Pink Houses/Check out the girls with the pretty pink blouses” Daddy-O [‘Uda Man’ - Stetsasonic]
NAME: Stapleton Houses
LOCATION: Gordon Street, Staten Island.
ACTUAL FACTS: The largest housing project in Staten, with six, 8-story high buildings that were completed May 31, 1962. Its 693 apartments currently house 1,821 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: High. Two undercover cops were executed, gang-land style, during an investigation into arms smuggling in the area in 2003. This year there have been several brawls between local police and firemen, stemming from an incident at Beer Goggles, which has been closed down repeatedly for serving booze to minors.
SMART DUMB CATS: According to silive.com in February 2008, “a would-be stick-up-kid pulled out a gun inside the Blu Lounge and tried to hold up two men, struggling to get their attention over the din of the music. He pulled some gold chains and medallions off one of the men, then, as he was trying to stuff the gun and jewelry into his jacket pocket, accidentally fired off a shot, hitting himself in the process.”
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 4/5. Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Trife Da God, Shyheim and GP Wu.
LYRIC QUOTE: “Stapleton’s been stamped as a concentration camp/At night I walk through, third eye is bright as a street lamp” - RZA [‘Impossible’ – Wu-Tang Clan]
NAME: Patterson Projects
LOCATION: 3rd Avenue, Bronx.
ACTUAL FACTS: Lester Patterson was a no-nonsense Bronx County judge who is said to have once sentenced a mugger to two concurrent life terms. Lester Patterson Houses has fifteen buildings 6 and 13-stories tall with 1,790 apartments, making it one of the largest in the city. Opened December 31, 1950, it’s currently home to 4,377 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Medium. The neighbourhood of Mott Haven was at the centre of major drug wars in the Bronx during the 80’s. Although things slowed down over the next decade, by the turn of the century Bronx prosecutors created a Gang/Major Case Bureau to combat the rise of gang activity in the area. In April 2004, the unit busted nine alleged Bloods for selling up to $80,000 in crack a month from the Patterson Houses.
SMART DUMB CATS: In April, 2005 a man climbed down the building shaft after dropping his mobile. While he was climbing back up he slipped and fell four stories. It took a team of fire fighters and a stretcher to hoist him to safety. The guy suffered several broken bones for his troubles, but got his phone back.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 3/5. Percee-P and Andre The Giant.
LYRIC QUOTE: “And on the other side of town was a kid named Flash/Patterson and Millbrook projects, Casanova all over, ya couldn’t stop it” KRS-One [Boogie Down Productions - ‘South Bronx’]
NAME: Soundview Houses
LOCATION: Rosedale Avenue, Bronx.
ACTUAL FACTS: Soundview Houses has thirteen, 7-story buildings containing 1,258 apartments. Completed October 29, 1954, it now houses 3,148 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Off The Meter. Spawned the infamous Sex Money Murder Bloods (founder Pistol Pete is not to be confused with the character of the same name who is part of Fat Joe’s Terror Squad). Was named New York’s “Murder Capital” in 2002, and currently holds the title for the most car thefts in the city.
SMART DUMB CATS: In 1999, four members of the now-disbanded Street Crimes Unit emptied 41 rounds into Amadou Diallo after they mistook him for a wanted rapist. When the plain-clothed officers thought he was reaching for a gun, when he was in fact tryin to show them his ID, they opened fire. All four of the officers involved were later exonerated of “any wrongdoing” by jury trial.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 3/5. The Jazzy 5 MC’s, Lord Tariq and Big Pun.
LYRIC QUOTE: “Lord Tariq, Soundview ain’t bout it, we of it/Round the world they respect my gangsta, gotta love it” Lord Tariq – ‘This Cold World’
NAME: The Polo Grounds
LOCATION: F Douglass Boulevard, Manhattan.
ACTUAL FACTS: Originally the home of the New York Giants before the stadium was demolished to make way for the buildings. Polo Grounds Towers has four, 30-story buildings with 1,612 apartments. Completed June 30, 1968, the Towers are home to 4,196 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: High. January 2007 saw twenty-five people arrested for trafficking heroin and crack-cocaine in and around the Polo Grounds Towers and across the street, at a community grocery store and a Chinese takeout restaurant. In April of this year, a robbery victim was doused with gasoline and set on fire in the lobby of the Towers after having attended a party upstairs the night before with his boyfriend. The Rooftop roller disco had been located directly across the street from the housing project and thus was the source of many robberies and stick-up attempts including the incident in 1991 where Slick Rick was accused of shooting his cousin and another person he thought were attempting to rob him.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 2/5. Pioneering mixtape DJ Ron G, who perfected the art of blending R&B vocals with hard beats.
LYRIC QUOTE: “We left the rally now we’re maxing uptown/8th Ave, 25th, 45th, and the Polo Grounds” Lord Jamar [Diamond feat. Brand Nubian ‘A Day In The Life’]
NAME: Brownville Houses
LOCATION: Sutter Avenue, Brooklyn.
ACTUAL FACTS: Brownsville Houses has twenty-seven buildings, 6 and 7-stories tall with 1,337 apartments. Completed April 16, 1948, it is currently home to 3,550 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Simmering. Northeast Brooklyn was the location of 765 murders in 1990, while 2007 saw it reduced to 212. Since the locals have adopted LA-style gangs, the Brownsville and Tilden Houses’ Bloods have been at war with the Crips across the street at Marcus Garvey projects, and the murder rate is on the rise again.
SMART DUMB CATS: According to the New York Post, in January 2008, a “meathead thief shoved seven salamis into his trousers and up his sleeves at the Western Beef on East New York Avenue in Brownsville.” When the assistant manager confronted him, he was “slugged in the face” before other customers grabbed the thief and held him down until the cops arrived at the scene. It’s unclear what became of the recovered salamis.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 4/5. Agallah, Masta Ace, Sean Price and Mike Tyson (M.O.P. are from Prospect Plaza, which is why they rep the Brownsville area).
LYRIC QUOTE: “Duke wanna fear one Rock shoot this nigga/Brownsville projects I’m not stupid nigga” Sean Price – ‘Don’t Say Shit To Ruck’
http://www.unkut.com/2009/03/the-unkut-guide-to-hip-hops-most-notorious-projects-part-2/
NAME: Marcy Projects.
LOCATION: Marcy Avenue, Brooklyn.
ACTUAL FACTS: Marcy Houses has twenty-seven, 6-story buildings with 1,714 apartments. Completed January 19, 1949, the development is home to 4,385 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Medium rare. In December 2007, nine members of ‘G’s Up’, a Marcy-based crime crew were arrested on drug and weapons charges as part of a joint sting between the FBI and the NYPD. It’s claimed that the crew were raking in around $5,000 a week in cocaine sales, and are suspected to have been involved in a double homicide in the area.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, Sauce Money and The Jaz (aka Jaz-O).
LYRIC QUOTE: “You crazy, think your little bit of rhymes can play me? I’m from Marcy, I’m varsity, chump, you’re JV” Jay-Z [Jay-Z feat. Notorious B.I.G. – ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’]
NAME: Queensbridge Houses
LOCATION: 12th Street, Queens.
ACTUAL FACTS: Queensbridge Houses is the largest housing development in New York City. Completed March 15, 1940, Queensbridge North Houses has thirteen, 6-story buildings with 1,540 apartments which are home to 3,457 residents. Queensbridge South Houses has thirteen, 6-story buildings with 1,602 apartments that house 3,530 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Medium. Last major drug bust was in 2005, when around 40 members of ‘The Dream Team’ were arrested following an eleven-month undercover operation. Known to operate around ‘The Hill’ (where a strip of stores and a community youth center are located), ‘Super Ed’ and his crew were known to bring in as much as $10,000 a week during their three-year reign. Super Ed also had close ties with Lake and Cormega, having been credited as co-Executive Producer of the Lake Entertainment Presents: The 41st Side album.
SMART DUMB CATS: An unlicensed drunken motorist was busted after police caught him snoozing in his car at an Elmhurst intersection in August 2008. The 50 year-old man was asleep behind the wheel at a green light around 2 a.m. Friday. According to The New York Post: “An officer knocked on the driver’s side window, waking him up.” He then “stumbled out of his car, which rolled forward and almost plowed into the cops’ vehicle. He was charged with DWI and operating a vehicle without a license.”
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 5/5. Marley Marl, MC Shan, Tragedy, Mobb Deep, Nas, Cormega, Screwball, Capone, Killah Sha, Craig G and many, many more.
LYRIC QUOTE: “I got you stuck off the realness, we be the infamous/you heard of us, official Queensbridge murderers” Prodigy [Mobb Deep – ‘Shook Ones Pt. 2’]
NAME: Red Hook Houses
LOCATION: (East) Clinton Street, Brooklyn (West) Dwight Street, Brooklyn.
ACTUAL FACTS: Red Hook Houses is the largest housing project in Brooklyn. It consists of Red Hook East and Red Hook West. Red Hook East has sixteen buildings, 2 and 6-stories tall with 1,407 apartments. Completed November 20, 1939, it is home to 3,053 residents. Red Hook West has fourteen buildings, 3 and 14-stories tall with 1,470 apartments. Completed May 27, 1955 and houses 3,356 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Low. With a giant new IKEA store and plans for the next season of MTV’s ‘The Real World Brooklyn’ to be filmed in Red Hook, it’s fair to say that the surrounding area is continuing to become more and more gentrified. Red Hook Houses still experiences it’s fair share of gunplay, however.
NAME CHECK: The group T.H.U.G. Angelz (consisting of Hell Razah and Shabazz) recently released an album dedicated to the area, titled Welcome To Red Hook Houses.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 2/5. Hell Razah and Shabazz The Disciple.
LYRIC QUOTE: “Or fatal robberies in Red Hook where feds look/For fugitives to shoot cops, niggaz layin on roof tops/ for his CREAM he stashed in a shoebox” GZA – ‘Cold World’
NAME: Walt Whitman Houses/Raymond Ingersoll Houses
LOCATION: Cumberland Walk, Brooklyn
ACTUAL FACTS: Completed February 24, 1944, Walt Whitman Houses has fifteen buildings, 6 and 13-stories tall with 1,652 apartments that are home to 2,485 residents. Ingersoll Houses has twenty buildings, 6 and 11-stories tall with 1,823 apartments that are home to 2,640 residents. Usually referenced with the rest of Fort Greene since ‘Walt Whitman’ doesn’t rhyme with much.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Not what it once was. The Ingersoll Houses were the home of the original legendary NYC gunman Kelvin ‘50 Cent’ Martin. In October, 2006 an off-duty cop shot and killed a 17 year-old Walt Whitman resident after “he encountered an individual on his knees, begging for his life as an assailant stood over him, firing a .40-caliber pistol.” When he identified himself as a policeman, the gunman allegedly turned and opened fire on the officer, hitting him in the buttocks and ankle, before he was able to return eleven rounds with his Smith & Wesson automatic. The gunshot victim - who was from rival Ingersoll Houses across the street - and the policeman both survived their injuries.
SMART DUMB CATS: A group of at least six men attacked and robbed a bicycle-riding pizza delivery guy in January, 2006, in full view of diners at nearby restaurants. After a chase involving at least seven police cars, the group was apprehended at a temporary parking lot back at the Whitman Houses. The only stolen property, according to the police report, was delicious pizza pie.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 4/5. Just-Ice and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. ‘Nuff said.
LYRIC QUOTE: “Albee Square you couldn’t shop too much cause/Fort Greene would hem ya wreck the fuck on up” O.C. [Crooklyn Dodgers - ‘Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers’]
NAME: Edgemere (aka Ocean Bay Apartments-Bayside)
LOCATION: Almeda Avenue, Queens.
ACTUAL FACTS: Ocean Bay Apartments (Bayside) consists of twenty-four buildings, 7 and 9-stories tall with 1,378 apartments. Completed September 25, 1961, they are home to 3,664 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: High. A huge police sting in 2007 saw 34 suspected Bloods arrested on charges ranging from narcotics and weapons possession to robbery, attempted murder and murder. Police seized cocaine, heroin, marijuana, revolvers, rifles and shotguns, and it’s claimed that the organization grossed more than $15,000 per week. Among those charged were Robert “Dead Eye” Baley, the alleged Bloods leader at the Edgemere Houses and an aspiring rapper who calls himself the “Crown King of FR” and “The Boss of Far Rock” in his lyrics. His lieutenant is also a member of 50 Cent’s G-Unit.
RIVALRIES: Locals have long-running feuds with nearby projects, the Beach 41st Street Houses. Apparently the feud goes back for decades, coming to a head in 2003 when a huge brawl erupted at a Times Square club between the residents of both projects, leaving eight people shot and two stabbed.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 2/5. AK Skills. Neighbouring Far Rockway gave us Rammellzee, MC Serch and…Father MC?
LYRIC QUOTE: “I’m from a place if ya front - brothers will blast if ya diss ‘em/Edgemere PJ’s - ya probebly seen us on the system’ - AK Skills ‘Nights of Fear’
NAME: Frederick Douglass
LOCATION: Columbus Avenue, Manhattan (Fredrick Douglass Addition is on Amsterdam Avenue, Manhattan).
ACTUAL FACTS: Completed September 25, 1958, Frederick Douglass I Houses has eleven buildings with 1,303 apartments and is home to 2,753 residents. Frederick Douglass II Houses has six buildings with 753 apartments which house 1,653 residents. Frederick Douglass Addition was built in June 30, 1965, and provides home to another 347 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: High. 2005 saw the arrest of the eighteen members of a Douglass Houses’ drug crew, who had been under investigation since a 2003 murder in one of the buildings. Their main enforcer, known as ‘EZ’, was charged with both first degree murder of a rival in 2001 and the attempted murder of another on Christmas Day 2003, which left the victim permanently paralyzed as a result of bullet wounds.
TIME IS RUNNING OUT: With the development of Columbus Village across the way, residents fear that it’s only a matter of time before the Douglass Houses are demolished to make way for “big chain stores and banks.”
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 0/5. Clearly too dangerous to for anyone to bother with making music.
NAME: Pink Houses
LOCATION: Linden Boulevard, Brooklyn.
ACTUAL FACTS: Louis Heaton Pink was a wealthy businessman who became chairman of the New York State Housing Board, and was dedicated to the notion that private and public housing efforts would eventually eradicate slums. Louis Heaton Pink Houses has twenty-two, 8-story buildings with 1,500 apartments. Established September 30, 1959, its current population is numbered at 3,810 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: High. In the mid-80’s Pink Houses was the home of the infamous street gang the A-Team. A generation later the project would spawn the notorious ‘Pink Houses Crew’, a twenty-deep team of thieves accused of stealing $2.5 million worth of jewelry during a dozen robberies that took place between 2003 and 2005. Legend has it that Pink Houses residents used to split sides before fights based on what floor they lived on (8th floor vs. 7th floor etc).
SMART DUMB CATS: Foxy Brown was allegedly robbed outside of Pink Hoses when she dumped her boyfriend after discovering he was a “small-time pimp”. Ironically, he then instructed three of his “employees” to jump her. Foxy was dragged out of her car and relieved of her purse containing $500 cash, her hair weave and her hearing aid. After fingering one of her attackers to police, Foxy later decided to “stop snitching” and instead denied the whole thing ever happened.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 1/5. Uncle Murda: “I’m from Pink Houses, but I fuck with Cypress niggas. I got a lot of problems with Pink Houses. I had a lot of shootouts in Pink Houses and I hurt a lot of people, so they don’t like me too much.”
LYRIC QUOTE: “And then I take a trip to Pink Houses/Check out the girls with the pretty pink blouses” Daddy-O [‘Uda Man’ - Stetsasonic]
NAME: Stapleton Houses
LOCATION: Gordon Street, Staten Island.
ACTUAL FACTS: The largest housing project in Staten, with six, 8-story high buildings that were completed May 31, 1962. Its 693 apartments currently house 1,821 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: High. Two undercover cops were executed, gang-land style, during an investigation into arms smuggling in the area in 2003. This year there have been several brawls between local police and firemen, stemming from an incident at Beer Goggles, which has been closed down repeatedly for serving booze to minors.
SMART DUMB CATS: According to silive.com in February 2008, “a would-be stick-up-kid pulled out a gun inside the Blu Lounge and tried to hold up two men, struggling to get their attention over the din of the music. He pulled some gold chains and medallions off one of the men, then, as he was trying to stuff the gun and jewelry into his jacket pocket, accidentally fired off a shot, hitting himself in the process.”
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 4/5. Ghostface Killah, Method Man, Trife Da God, Shyheim and GP Wu.
LYRIC QUOTE: “Stapleton’s been stamped as a concentration camp/At night I walk through, third eye is bright as a street lamp” - RZA [‘Impossible’ – Wu-Tang Clan]
NAME: Patterson Projects
LOCATION: 3rd Avenue, Bronx.
ACTUAL FACTS: Lester Patterson was a no-nonsense Bronx County judge who is said to have once sentenced a mugger to two concurrent life terms. Lester Patterson Houses has fifteen buildings 6 and 13-stories tall with 1,790 apartments, making it one of the largest in the city. Opened December 31, 1950, it’s currently home to 4,377 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Medium. The neighbourhood of Mott Haven was at the centre of major drug wars in the Bronx during the 80’s. Although things slowed down over the next decade, by the turn of the century Bronx prosecutors created a Gang/Major Case Bureau to combat the rise of gang activity in the area. In April 2004, the unit busted nine alleged Bloods for selling up to $80,000 in crack a month from the Patterson Houses.
SMART DUMB CATS: In April, 2005 a man climbed down the building shaft after dropping his mobile. While he was climbing back up he slipped and fell four stories. It took a team of fire fighters and a stretcher to hoist him to safety. The guy suffered several broken bones for his troubles, but got his phone back.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 3/5. Percee-P and Andre The Giant.
LYRIC QUOTE: “And on the other side of town was a kid named Flash/Patterson and Millbrook projects, Casanova all over, ya couldn’t stop it” KRS-One [Boogie Down Productions - ‘South Bronx’]
NAME: Soundview Houses
LOCATION: Rosedale Avenue, Bronx.
ACTUAL FACTS: Soundview Houses has thirteen, 7-story buildings containing 1,258 apartments. Completed October 29, 1954, it now houses 3,148 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Off The Meter. Spawned the infamous Sex Money Murder Bloods (founder Pistol Pete is not to be confused with the character of the same name who is part of Fat Joe’s Terror Squad). Was named New York’s “Murder Capital” in 2002, and currently holds the title for the most car thefts in the city.
SMART DUMB CATS: In 1999, four members of the now-disbanded Street Crimes Unit emptied 41 rounds into Amadou Diallo after they mistook him for a wanted rapist. When the plain-clothed officers thought he was reaching for a gun, when he was in fact tryin to show them his ID, they opened fire. All four of the officers involved were later exonerated of “any wrongdoing” by jury trial.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 3/5. The Jazzy 5 MC’s, Lord Tariq and Big Pun.
LYRIC QUOTE: “Lord Tariq, Soundview ain’t bout it, we of it/Round the world they respect my gangsta, gotta love it” Lord Tariq – ‘This Cold World’
NAME: The Polo Grounds
LOCATION: F Douglass Boulevard, Manhattan.
ACTUAL FACTS: Originally the home of the New York Giants before the stadium was demolished to make way for the buildings. Polo Grounds Towers has four, 30-story buildings with 1,612 apartments. Completed June 30, 1968, the Towers are home to 4,196 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: High. January 2007 saw twenty-five people arrested for trafficking heroin and crack-cocaine in and around the Polo Grounds Towers and across the street, at a community grocery store and a Chinese takeout restaurant. In April of this year, a robbery victim was doused with gasoline and set on fire in the lobby of the Towers after having attended a party upstairs the night before with his boyfriend. The Rooftop roller disco had been located directly across the street from the housing project and thus was the source of many robberies and stick-up attempts including the incident in 1991 where Slick Rick was accused of shooting his cousin and another person he thought were attempting to rob him.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 2/5. Pioneering mixtape DJ Ron G, who perfected the art of blending R&B vocals with hard beats.
LYRIC QUOTE: “We left the rally now we’re maxing uptown/8th Ave, 25th, 45th, and the Polo Grounds” Lord Jamar [Diamond feat. Brand Nubian ‘A Day In The Life’]
NAME: Brownville Houses
LOCATION: Sutter Avenue, Brooklyn.
ACTUAL FACTS: Brownsville Houses has twenty-seven buildings, 6 and 7-stories tall with 1,337 apartments. Completed April 16, 1948, it is currently home to 3,550 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Simmering. Northeast Brooklyn was the location of 765 murders in 1990, while 2007 saw it reduced to 212. Since the locals have adopted LA-style gangs, the Brownsville and Tilden Houses’ Bloods have been at war with the Crips across the street at Marcus Garvey projects, and the murder rate is on the rise again.
SMART DUMB CATS: According to the New York Post, in January 2008, a “meathead thief shoved seven salamis into his trousers and up his sleeves at the Western Beef on East New York Avenue in Brownsville.” When the assistant manager confronted him, he was “slugged in the face” before other customers grabbed the thief and held him down until the cops arrived at the scene. It’s unclear what became of the recovered salamis.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 4/5. Agallah, Masta Ace, Sean Price and Mike Tyson (M.O.P. are from Prospect Plaza, which is why they rep the Brownsville area).
LYRIC QUOTE: “Duke wanna fear one Rock shoot this nigga/Brownsville projects I’m not stupid nigga” Sean Price – ‘Don’t Say Shit To Ruck’
http://www.unkut.com/2009/03/the-unkut-guide-to-hip-hops-most-notorious-projects-part-2/
NAME: Marcy Projects.
LOCATION: Marcy Avenue, Brooklyn.
ACTUAL FACTS: Marcy Houses has twenty-seven, 6-story buildings with 1,714 apartments. Completed January 19, 1949, the development is home to 4,385 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Medium rare. In December 2007, nine members of ‘G’s Up’, a Marcy-based crime crew were arrested on drug and weapons charges as part of a joint sting between the FBI and the NYPD. It’s claimed that the crew were raking in around $5,000 a week in cocaine sales, and are suspected to have been involved in a double homicide in the area.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: Jay-Z, Memphis Bleek, Sauce Money and The Jaz (aka Jaz-O).
LYRIC QUOTE: “You crazy, think your little bit of rhymes can play me? I’m from Marcy, I’m varsity, chump, you’re JV” Jay-Z [Jay-Z feat. Notorious B.I.G. – ‘Brooklyn’s Finest’]
NAME: Queensbridge Houses
LOCATION: 12th Street, Queens.
ACTUAL FACTS: Queensbridge Houses is the largest housing development in New York City. Completed March 15, 1940, Queensbridge North Houses has thirteen, 6-story buildings with 1,540 apartments which are home to 3,457 residents. Queensbridge South Houses has thirteen, 6-story buildings with 1,602 apartments that house 3,530 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Medium. Last major drug bust was in 2005, when around 40 members of ‘The Dream Team’ were arrested following an eleven-month undercover operation. Known to operate around ‘The Hill’ (where a strip of stores and a community youth center are located), ‘Super Ed’ and his crew were known to bring in as much as $10,000 a week during their three-year reign. Super Ed also had close ties with Lake and Cormega, having been credited as co-Executive Producer of the Lake Entertainment Presents: The 41st Side album.
SMART DUMB CATS: An unlicensed drunken motorist was busted after police caught him snoozing in his car at an Elmhurst intersection in August 2008. The 50 year-old man was asleep behind the wheel at a green light around 2 a.m. Friday. According to The New York Post: “An officer knocked on the driver’s side window, waking him up.” He then “stumbled out of his car, which rolled forward and almost plowed into the cops’ vehicle. He was charged with DWI and operating a vehicle without a license.”
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 5/5. Marley Marl, MC Shan, Tragedy, Mobb Deep, Nas, Cormega, Screwball, Capone, Killah Sha, Craig G and many, many more.
LYRIC QUOTE: “I got you stuck off the realness, we be the infamous/you heard of us, official Queensbridge murderers” Prodigy [Mobb Deep – ‘Shook Ones Pt. 2’]
NAME: Red Hook Houses
LOCATION: (East) Clinton Street, Brooklyn (West) Dwight Street, Brooklyn.
ACTUAL FACTS: Red Hook Houses is the largest housing project in Brooklyn. It consists of Red Hook East and Red Hook West. Red Hook East has sixteen buildings, 2 and 6-stories tall with 1,407 apartments. Completed November 20, 1939, it is home to 3,053 residents. Red Hook West has fourteen buildings, 3 and 14-stories tall with 1,470 apartments. Completed May 27, 1955 and houses 3,356 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Low. With a giant new IKEA store and plans for the next season of MTV’s ‘The Real World Brooklyn’ to be filmed in Red Hook, it’s fair to say that the surrounding area is continuing to become more and more gentrified. Red Hook Houses still experiences it’s fair share of gunplay, however.
NAME CHECK: The group T.H.U.G. Angelz (consisting of Hell Razah and Shabazz) recently released an album dedicated to the area, titled Welcome To Red Hook Houses.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 2/5. Hell Razah and Shabazz The Disciple.
LYRIC QUOTE: “Or fatal robberies in Red Hook where feds look/For fugitives to shoot cops, niggaz layin on roof tops/ for his CREAM he stashed in a shoebox” GZA – ‘Cold World’
NAME: Walt Whitman Houses/Raymond Ingersoll Houses
LOCATION: Cumberland Walk, Brooklyn
ACTUAL FACTS: Completed February 24, 1944, Walt Whitman Houses has fifteen buildings, 6 and 13-stories tall with 1,652 apartments that are home to 2,485 residents. Ingersoll Houses has twenty buildings, 6 and 11-stories tall with 1,823 apartments that are home to 2,640 residents. Usually referenced with the rest of Fort Greene since ‘Walt Whitman’ doesn’t rhyme with much.
TOUGH GUY RATING: Not what it once was. The Ingersoll Houses were the home of the original legendary NYC gunman Kelvin ‘50 Cent’ Martin. In October, 2006 an off-duty cop shot and killed a 17 year-old Walt Whitman resident after “he encountered an individual on his knees, begging for his life as an assailant stood over him, firing a .40-caliber pistol.” When he identified himself as a policeman, the gunman allegedly turned and opened fire on the officer, hitting him in the buttocks and ankle, before he was able to return eleven rounds with his Smith & Wesson automatic. The gunshot victim - who was from rival Ingersoll Houses across the street - and the policeman both survived their injuries.
SMART DUMB CATS: A group of at least six men attacked and robbed a bicycle-riding pizza delivery guy in January, 2006, in full view of diners at nearby restaurants. After a chase involving at least seven police cars, the group was apprehended at a temporary parking lot back at the Whitman Houses. The only stolen property, according to the police report, was delicious pizza pie.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 4/5. Just-Ice and Ol’ Dirty Bastard. ‘Nuff said.
LYRIC QUOTE: “Albee Square you couldn’t shop too much cause/Fort Greene would hem ya wreck the fuck on up” O.C. [Crooklyn Dodgers - ‘Return of the Crooklyn Dodgers’]
NAME: Edgemere (aka Ocean Bay Apartments-Bayside)
LOCATION: Almeda Avenue, Queens.
ACTUAL FACTS: Ocean Bay Apartments (Bayside) consists of twenty-four buildings, 7 and 9-stories tall with 1,378 apartments. Completed September 25, 1961, they are home to 3,664 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: High. A huge police sting in 2007 saw 34 suspected Bloods arrested on charges ranging from narcotics and weapons possession to robbery, attempted murder and murder. Police seized cocaine, heroin, marijuana, revolvers, rifles and shotguns, and it’s claimed that the organization grossed more than $15,000 per week. Among those charged were Robert “Dead Eye” Baley, the alleged Bloods leader at the Edgemere Houses and an aspiring rapper who calls himself the “Crown King of FR” and “The Boss of Far Rock” in his lyrics. His lieutenant is also a member of 50 Cent’s G-Unit.
RIVALRIES: Locals have long-running feuds with nearby projects, the Beach 41st Street Houses. Apparently the feud goes back for decades, coming to a head in 2003 when a huge brawl erupted at a Times Square club between the residents of both projects, leaving eight people shot and two stabbed.
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 2/5. AK Skills. Neighbouring Far Rockway gave us Rammellzee, MC Serch and…Father MC?
LYRIC QUOTE: “I’m from a place if ya front - brothers will blast if ya diss ‘em/Edgemere PJ’s - ya probebly seen us on the system’ - AK Skills ‘Nights of Fear’
NAME: Frederick Douglass
LOCATION: Columbus Avenue, Manhattan (Fredrick Douglass Addition is on Amsterdam Avenue, Manhattan).
ACTUAL FACTS: Completed September 25, 1958, Frederick Douglass I Houses has eleven buildings with 1,303 apartments and is home to 2,753 residents. Frederick Douglass II Houses has six buildings with 753 apartments which house 1,653 residents. Frederick Douglass Addition was built in June 30, 1965, and provides home to another 347 residents.
TOUGH GUY RATING: High. 2005 saw the arrest of the eighteen members of a Douglass Houses’ drug crew, who had been under investigation since a 2003 murder in one of the buildings. Their main enforcer, known as ‘EZ’, was charged with both first degree murder of a rival in 2001 and the attempted murder of another on Christmas Day 2003, which left the victim permanently paralyzed as a result of bullet wounds.
TIME IS RUNNING OUT: With the development of Columbus Village across the way, residents fear that it’s only a matter of time before the Douglass Houses are demolished to make way for “big chain stores and banks.”
RAP ALUMNI RATING: 0/5. Clearly too dangerous to for anyone to bother with making music.