Brooklyn Heights hip hop lovers are trying to rename Squibb Park after late Beastie Boy Adam Yauch — a move that would commemorate the rapper known as MCA while stripping away a long-standing tribute to pharmaceutical innovator Dr. Edward Robinson Squibb. Both men were neighborhood icons and leaders in their fields — here’s how they stack up:
Licensed to:
MCA: Ill
Squibb: Treat illness
Greatest hit:
MCA: “Paul Revere”
Squibb: Anesthetic ether
Fought for:
MCA: The right to party
Squibb: The purity of medicines
Altruistic efforts:
MCA: Started the Tibetan Freedom Concerts in the 1990s
Squibb: Sold Brooklyn Heights land to the city for just $800 — when bureaucrats were willing to pay him $1,600 for it
Supplied:
MCA: Generations of white kids with relatable rap idols
Squibb: Ether and other pharmaceuticals to Army medical stores — providing roughly one twelfth of their total stock
Unintended legacy:
MCA: Kid Rock
Squibb: Hunter S. Thompson
Career began in:
MCA: An NYU dorm room
Squibb: A Navy vessel
Facilitated:
MCA: The rise of hip hop from a fringe genre to mainstream music
Squibb: The treatment of horrific injuries during the Civil War
—Eli Rosenberg
Reach reporter Eli Rosenberg at erosenberg@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2531. And follow him at twitter.com/emrosenberg.
