ST. ALBANS — Friends and fans of A Tribe Called Quest rapper Phife Dawg, who passed away last week, are pushing a series of petitions to rename a park and a street in his honor.
A petition to rename St. Albans Park after the rapper, born Malik Taylor, had already received close to 3,000 signatures as of Tuesday morning, after Jarobi White, a fellow member of A Tribe Called Quest who left the group in the early 1990s, wrote on Facebook that the park had been near and dear to Phife's heart.
White's post said Phife had his spirit "nurtured and entertained" at the park, which was located near his home. And he joked that the park could be renamed either "Malik 'Phife Dawg' Taylor Park" or "Tha Phiferdome" to remember his influence.
White also included a list of other venues that could honor Phife's life, including Sayres Avenue between 180th Street and Merrick Boulevard or putting up a mural in St. Albans.
"Help me accomplish these things in his name," White wrote. "Start a petition. I don't know. Something..."
► MAP: A Tribe Called Quest's New York
There is also another petition currently open seeking to rename a portion of the Boulevard of Linden "A Tribe Called Quest Boulevard."
That petition is sponsored in part by LeRoy McCarthy, who has also pushed to have the corner of St. James Place and Fulton Street in Brooklyn renamed for Biggie Smalls and the Lower East Side to get a "Beastie Boys Square."