'Beastie Boys Square' proposal needs more signatures before board will vote

As previously reported, Brooklyn resident LeRoy McCarthy's proposal to name the intersection of Ludlow and Rivington streets in New York's Lower East Side after the Beastie Boys went before a local community board panel on Tuesday. The board was not satisfied with the number of collected signatures and are asking for him to get more signatures from residents and merchants in the immediate area before they will vote.

The area was chosen because the corner is featured on the cover of the hip-hop trio's groundbreaking 1989 album, Paul's Boutique. According to The Villager, McCarthy had already brought signatures from 17 apartment units out of 20 and eight of nine businesses on the block as well as 1,455 online signatures, but this was not enough to satisfy the committee's 75 percent rule. Community Board 3's transportation subcommittee voted to require 500 neighborhood signatures from McCarthy, and the full board votes on that new requirement January 28.

David Crane, a chairperson of the board's subcommittee opposed to the co-naming of the intersection, told The Villager that there was not enough residential backing from the area and cited the board's criteria for a street co-naming.

"I don't find that there is a strong connection to the Lower East Side, which is the entire point of the guidelines that the board passed in 2006," Crane said. "The guidelines are looking for a very strong connection from the individual who is deceased and has been in the community for 15 years, or an institution that has been involved in the community for 30 years."

Although there are exceptions for a "highly acclaimed accomplishment linked to [Community Board 3] with overwhelming support," Crane is not convinced the Beastie Boys' influence on hip-hop is deserving of a square. "We were a set for an album cover," he said. He also expressed concerns that street namings have become too frequent. "There are lots of talented people on the Lower East Side who are living," Crane said. "These types of honorific things should be posthumous."

Despite the new signature requirement and some opposition, McCartney still seems hopeful. "I don't think it'll be a big problem to get additional signatures," he said. "People are elated when I'm telling them about it. This is going to move on in a positive direction, I feel."

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