“I wanna thank everyone that loves Beastie Boys music,” Ad-Rock added. “I don’t really understand why, but I know that I love it, so in a way that makes us kind of friends, like we bonded over these weird records, so thank you.”
Horovitz made it a point to thank the council members who helped make Beastie Boys Square a reality, as well as cultural advocate LeRoy McCarthy, whose efforts have similarly led to streets being named in honor of, among others. He also thanked New York City for “for teaching us what to look at, what to listen to, what to wear, how to love, how to live. Thank you, New York.”
Concluding his lighthearted speech, Horovitz pinpointed what the honor means to him: “We walk around these streets and we don’t really think about who they’re named after, like Ludlow Street, Irving Street, Father Demo Square… but it makes me really happy to know that some kid on their way to school 50 years from now is gonna pass by this and look up and be like, ‘What the fuck is a Beastie Boy and why the fuck do they have a...
Diamond acknowledged the “long road, or a multiyear battle, to make this happen. “We grew up elsewhere, but the Lower East Side was always this cool place that we wanted to go and hang out and somehow, the Lower East Side was gracious enough to have us and let us see so much incredible music,” Mike D said.