Brooklyn Street Co-Named for Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Rooted in Bed-Stuy’s History

Yesterday, a stretch of Putnam Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant was co-named ODB Jones Way, honoring the late Wu-Tang Clan co-founder Russell “Ol’ Dirty Bastard” Jones. The ceremony brought family, friends, and local officials to a block already steeped in the rapper’s presence.

Jones’s eldest brother, Ramsay Jones, noted that their grandmother still lives on the same corner. A large mural of the cover from Jones’s solo debut, Return to the 36 Chambers: The Dirty Version, has been fixed on a wall there for years, making the street sign less a new tribute than an official recognition of a long-standing relationship.

Though Jones grew up in Fort Greene, his tie to Bed-Stuy was direct. He died in 2004 at age 35, leaving behind a legacy of unfiltered energy and lyrical chaos that never fit neatly into the genre’s commercial mold. Two posthumous documentaries—one unauthorized and blocked by the estate, one released with family consent in 2023—have tried to frame that story.

The renaming arrives over two decades later, but the gesture feels grounded. It doesn’t mythologize; it marks a real place: a block his family still calls home, under a mural that has already been doing the quiet work of remembrance.