The owners of a new cannabis dispensary in Brooklyn were caught in a dilemma after painting over a beloved mural of rap legend The Notorious B.I.G., sparking outrage from the community.
In New York City, getting a cannabis license is hard enough as it is.
“This was not on our radar, and we tried, we did not want to cover this up at all,” said Christina de Giovanni, CEO of Emerald Dispensary. “We love this mural from the minute we moved into this building, and we had artwork done on the front of the building and along the side, we all agreed we’re not touching this big mural. We love this. This stays.”
Initially, it didn’t quite work out that way. The iconic childhood mural of Biggie, that went up three years ago in Bushwick where the Emerald Dispensary is now open for business, was covered up with black removable graffiti before it opened its doors last week.
“We were following the regulations,” Giovanni said. “We had a state inspection a couple weeks ago, and so prior to that, we had been speaking to a compliance officer and we were aware of the regulations in regards to exterior artwork. And so, we covered it up because we thought that we were in compliance. We thought that that is what needed to happen to be in compliance.”