In 2014, a New York community board rejected a proposal to rename the Lower East Side corner of Ludlow Street and Rivington Street—made famous on the cover of Paul’s Boutique—as “Beastie Boys Square.” Eight years later, a renewed application for the designation has been approved by the New York City Council, reports PIX11. A street sign honoring Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz, and the late Adam “MCA” Yauch is set to go up, pending the bill’s signature by Mayor Eric Adams.
“As many of us know, once the Beastie Boys hit the scene, it really changed the hip-hop game,” said council member Christopher Marte, according to PIX11. “I see it as a celebration. A celebration for the Lower East Side, a celebration for hip-hop, and especially a celebration for our community who has been organizing for a really long time to make this happen.”
LeRoy McCarthy, who spearheaded the renaming efforts, previously got a special mural to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Paul’s Boutique approved at the same spot in the Lower East Side. In 2013, a park in Brooklyn Heights was renamed Adam Yauch Park, too.
Over the years, McCarthy also campaigned to establish A Tribe Called Quest Boulevard in Queens—the corner of Linden Boulevard and 192nd Street in the St. Albans neighborhood was later renamed after Phife Dawg—and Boulevard De La Soul in Long Island.
