Community members near the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City are shocked and disgusted after a mural honoring the late rapper, "Prodigy" was defaced. NY1's Gene Apodaca filed the following report.
A mural honoring the late rapper “Prodigy” was found vandalized on Saturday, just hours after the artists behind the piece debuted it to the public.
The mural was vandalized using white paint that was splattered across the tribute.
“I don’t know who did it, I don’t care who did it, I don’t want to know who did it, it’s not a personal thing to me but it’s personal to the folks out here, “ said Jeff Henriquez, one of two artists who created the mural.
The idea for the artwork came after the local rapper, a member of the duo Mobb Deep, died last month from complications related to sickle cell anemia.
“This angers me, I’m not somebody that’s just sad about it, I’m angry about this because this is somebody I knew. This is a friend of mines,” said resident, Ty Gibson.
The mural was painted on the wall of Urban Upbound, which is up the street from the Queensbridge Houses.
Urban Upbound's CEO, Bishop Mitchell Taylor, told NY1 that "Prodigy" was a true neighborhood hero.
He says the rapper, whose real name was Albert Johnson, would often perform at their annual gala for free.
“To see that someone would defame this tribute to such a talent in our community is really a travesty,“ said Taylor.
Police met with Bishop Taylor on Saturday as part of their investigation into what happened.
Several residents stopped by when they heard about the vandalism to see it first-hand.
“He really stood for New York in times when we needed it. For somebody to do this, it’s low, it’s lower than low, it can’t be tolerated,“ said Piif Jones, a local rapper.
The artists spent 7 days, and several thousand dollars of their own money to complete the mural and they’re now under a timeline to get it fixed.
The mural was going to be the centerpiece at a vigil set to honor "Prodigy" later this month.
“We from Queens, we bounce back, we from New York City we bounce back when things come push to shove, we stick together, we make it happen,“ said Eli Lazare, a curator and artist.