An Instagram-famous blogger from Los Angeles isn’t getting any “props” from the Queensbridge Houses.
Denizens of the country’s largest housing development were aghast when co-opted their hard-knock reality to use as the backdrop for an ad for a vintage shop in Williamsburg.
“People die here. People starve here. People go missing here. Ain’t nothing cool about that,” raged Auset Semhar, 28, among those ripping May, 27, for using “poverty as a prop.”
May was a dead-ringer for the during the shoot for Procell’s new Tommy Hilfiger vintage pop up on Grand Street, posing carefree in a baggy Tommy Hilfiger polo and jeans, a name-plate belly chain and chunky “dad sneakers.”
In one of several “exploitative” snaps, May holds a ferocious-looking pit bull tethered to a chain in front of one of the sprawling complex’s drab buildings.
As of Friday, the photo, posted earlier this month, collected more than 34,000 “likes” from May’s 439,000-some followers.
But Queensbridge wasn’t impressed by May’s street cred — she grew up in LA’s Baldwin Hills neighborhood.
“If she lived here, she would be at home. But she don’t live here, so she shouldn’t be taking pictures,” said Victoria, a resident since the 1970s.
May said the questionable shoot location arose “organically” when her team set out from the Tommy Hilfiger archives in Long Island City to scout locations.
“We all walked over there and were just kickin’ it in the neighborhood and met some amazing people,” she said.
The pit bull, she pointed out, added to the shoots authenticity. It belongs to a Queensbridge resident, she said.
The Tommy clothes — which Procell hawks for $50-$1,500 — became a streetwear staple in the ’90s when musicians, such as Snoop Dogg and TLC, rocked the gear.
May, who said she grew up “poor” before attending Columbia College in Chicago, has made a name for herself in the modern streetwear scene styling for rappers including Wiz Khalifa and designing sneakers for Air Jordan.
“I basically took what my hood fashion was and I was like, ‘one day we will be able to mix high- and low-end and show people not only where you are from but where you are going,’” she explained.