Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. was born in Harlem, New York City, the only child of Cora Lillian, a department store price checker, and Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Sr., a transit police officer and jazz musician.[20][21] He grew up in the Dyckman Street projects in the Inwood neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, which he moved to at the age of 3 in 1950.[22] At birth, Alcindor weighed 12 lb 11 oz (5.75 kg) and was 22+1⁄2 inches (57 cm) long.[23][24] He was always very tall for his age.[23] By age nine, he was already 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) tall.[25] Alcindor was often depressed as a teenager because of the stares and comments about his height.[23] By the eighth grade (age 13–14), he had grown to 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) and could already slam dunk a basketball.[25][26]