DJ COMMUNITY

Legendary Hip-Hop Monument Saved

*1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, the place where they say hip-hop was born has been saved. The legendary location is where Kool Herc, the father of hip-hop, first got the party started when he DJ’d for his sister’s birthday in the building’s community room in 1973, according to legend.

The hip-hop spot was part of NYC’s Mitchell Lama program which provided housing for middle-income families. Over the years, however, the building has run into financial troubles and has been on the verge of shut down.

In 2007, Herc and a few others went forward with efforts to declare it a historical monument, not just for its hip-hop relevance, but also for the persistent change it’s made in the lives of hundreds of families.

In 2008, private investors put up $7 million, but the building still fell into further disrepair due to unstable financing. But the sale of 1520′s mortgage has cleared the way for Workforce Housing Advisors to purchase the property and improve the conditions of the landmark.