Big Pun, the late rapper Christopher Rios, now has a street corner in New York City named after him. A sign marking the corner of East Fordham Road and the Grand Concourse in the Bronx was unveiled today (March 22nd) in the presence of Rios’ wife and children. Rios died of a heart attack in White Plains, New York, in 2000.
The inauguration of the square is the city’s first official designation, but not the first time a street corner in the Bronx has been dedicated to Big Pun. In 2014, a fan bought a sign from the New York Department of Transportation’s website and posted it on the corner of E 163 St and Rogers Place on the anniversary of Rios’ death. It was quickly removed. A 2011 attempt by his sister to propose an initiation on Bronx Community Board 2 was unsuccessful. After similar unsuccessful attempts with a local community board, the family of the slain rapper The Notorious BIG was able to rename a street corner in Brooklyn in his honor in 2019.
Big Pun’s solo debut Capital Punishment was the first album by a Latinx rapper to go platinum. It was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1998 Grammys.
