Beastie Boys Ad-Rock and Mike D speak at dedicated square unveiling ceremony: Watch
"I also want to thank New York City in the form of all this incredible music that we grew up on, that formed us..." Mike D said at Saturday's event
Ad-Rock and Mike D spoke at the unveiling ceremony for Beastie Boys Square this past the weekend. The ceremony took place on a street in New York City at the intersection of Ludlow and Rivington Streets, which appears on the cover of group's iconic 1989 album 'Paul's Boutique'.
At the official event on Saturday (8th September), Ad-Rock aka Adam Horovitz thanked local resident LeRoy McCarthy — who first launched a petition to rename the street corner in Manhattan's Lower East Side area back in 2014 — and paid tribute to New York City. "Thank you for teaching us what to look at, what to listen to, what to wear, how to love, how to live," he said.
Mike D aka Michael Louis Diamond, who grew up in Manhattan, recalled visiting the Lower East Side with his parents before later in life viewing the area as the "cool" place he "wanted to hang out". "I also want to thank New York City in the form of all this incredible music that we grew up on, that formed us..." he adds.
The two surviving Beastie Boys members also paid tribute to late member Adam “MCA” Yauch, who passed away from cancer in 2012 at the age of 47. “He was our brother on this amazing journey that we all got to go through,” said Diamond. Watch a video of the ceremony below.
McCarthy first began lobbying to rename the site to Beastie Boys Square a decade ago but his application was initially rejected by a community board. He was then banned from launching any further applications for five years until his proposal was eventually approved by the New York City Council in 2022.
Earlier this month, a 25th anniversary vinyl reissue of Beastie Boys' album 'Hello, Nasty' was release.
