New York City Council Approves Street Renaming to "Beastie Boys Square"
After an uphill, eight-year battle.
After eight years, the New York City Council has approved the renaming a corner in the Lower East Side to Beastie Boys Square.
According to reports, the petitions to rename the corner of Ludlow and Rivington began in 2014 but were previously unsuccessful. This specific corner in the Lower East Side neighborhood was chosen as it is featured as the album art of the group’s second studio album Paul’s Boutique, which was released in July 1989. The record’s gatefold also showed a panoramic photograph of the intersection shot from 99 Rivington Street and was credited to Nathanial Hörnblowér/the late MCA but shot by Jeremy Shatan.
LeRoy McCarthy, a former rep for Diddy’s Bad Boy Records, resident of Brooklyn and “the biggest advocate” for this approval told New York Post that the renaming “took a long time, but hip-hop don’t stop.” McCarthy, who also lobbied for successful campaigns that honored The Notorious B.I.G. in Brooklyn and Wu-Tang Clan on Staten Island, added, “It has been a long road to get Beastie Boys Square accomplished, but I am happy to see New York government formally embracing the indigenous arts and culture of hip hop, and the street sign is very appropriate because hip hop is from the NYC streets.”
Elsewhere in music, Kid Cudi is replacing Ye as a headliner for Rolling Loud Miami 2022.
