Over the weekend, the intersection of Ludlow and Rivington was officially dubbed ‘Beastie Boys Square’ as a dedication to the notorious hip-hop group from New York, known for hits like ‘No Sleep Til Brooklyn,’ ‘Fight For Your Right’ and ‘Ch-Check It Out.’
You might recognize the street corner from the cover of their 1989 album Paul’s Boutique.
The street dedication had been proposed for years now, but met previous rejection from a New York community board in 2014. It wasn’t until last summer that the campaign got approved by the New York City Council. And on Saturday afternoon, fans and surviving members of the group flocked to the intersection for the official unveiling.
“Thank you [to New York] for teaching us what to look at, what to listen to, what to wear, how to love, how to live,” Ad-Rock said at the dedication ceremony. “It makes me really happy to know that some kid on the way to school 50 years from now is gonna look up and say, ‘What the fuck is a Beastie Boy? Why do they get a square?’”
The dedication coincides with the album’s 25th birthday. The Beastie Boys even released a special vinyl reissue of ‘Hello, Nasty’ to commemorate the anniversary.
“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 previously verifying the plan to rename the intersection. “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.”
And though the dedication took around a decade, LeRoy McCarthy, the one who originally begun the campaign petition reminded us that “hip-hop don’t stop,” in a statement to The New York Post. “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,” he said.