In a little under two years the Universal Hip Hop Museum in the Bronx will be open to the public. Thursday, the Borough’s President, Ruben Diaz Jr. broke ground on the first phase of Bronx Point; the museum’s permanent home.
In celebration of the upcoming project, ABC 7 reports Hip Hop legends like Nas, LL Cool J, Fat Joe, Lil Kim, Naughty by Nature, Grandmaster Flash, Slick Rick, Michael Bivins were all at the event. Many of which feel a deep connection to the museum.
“This museum is being built by those who come from hip hop,” Executive Director Rocky Bucano said. “It’s not coming from outside of hip hop.
In an interview with Ny Daily News, Hip Hop pioneer Grandmaster Flash described the early days of the iconic music genre and culture.
“This is a really special time,” he said, recalling the 1970s roots of the music. “There was a time where nobody gave a f— about the Bronx. Nobody cared. This thing we were doing was anti-everything.
The highly anticipated Universal Hip Hop Museum will be housed right along the Harlem River waterfront in the South Bronx. According to ABC 7, the project is being developed by L+M Development Partners and Type A Projects.
The first phase of the project will provide 542 units of permanently affordable housing to the Lower Concourse neighborhood, along with approximately 2.8 acres of public open space.
In addition to this, Bronx Point, plans to cultivate cultural and community-focused programming, including the museum, an early childhood space run by BronxWorks, and outdoor science programming run by the Billion Oyster Project.
“It’s going to be be global destination,” Diaz said. “It’s going to be an economic engine.”
