Beastie Boys Square to be unveiled by Mike D and Ad-Rock on Saturday
The site was once home to Paul's Boutique, the namesake of the group's much-loved second album
A small corner of New York City will be officially dubbed Beastie Boys Square as of this weekend.
Located on the corner of Ludlow and Rivington Streets, the area of the city will be unveiled under the name at a ceremony on Saturday, 9th September, which will be attended by the surviving members of the trio, Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horowitz.
The area was once home to Paul's Boutique, a shop which provided the title for Beastie Boys' much-loved 1989 second album. The shop was famously featured on the gatefold album cover.
Lobbying to rename the locale to Beastie Boys Square originally started a decade ago when local man LeRoy McCarthy launched a petition to rename the street corner in Manhattan's Lower East Side area. A local community board rejected the application in 2014, and McCarthy was subsequently banned from putting forward any further application for five years.
He eventually put the proposal forward again, and it was approved by the New York City Council in 2022.
"As many of us know, once the Beastie Boys hit the scene, it really changed the hip-hop game," council member Christopher Marte said when the renaming was approved. "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 organising for a really long time to make this happen."
The ceremony to rename the square this Saturday will take place from 12 pm through to 2pm local time, and will feature a guest DJ set by Jon Bless HiFi System.
This weekend will also see the release of a 25th anniversary vinyl reissue of Beastie Boys' album 'Hello, Nasty'.
