How much does New York City love The Ramones? So much that the punk icons, whose original members are now all deceased, have not one but two streets—in different boroughs—commemorating them! First there was Joey Ramone Place on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, named after the band’s singer and not far from the site of the long defunct CBGB club where they got their start. And, in Queens, at the corner of 67th Ave. and 110th Street—the location of Forest Hills High School, where Johnny, Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy Ramone met—is a sign that designates the block The Ramones Way.
New York has long had a tradition of awarding honorary street names to its most famous residents—others include concert promoter Bill Graham and jazz giant Miles Davis—but the Ramones are without a doubt the first punk band to merit the honor, and one of very few subjects to have more then one street named in their honor.
The honorary sign was unveiled October 30, 2016, at a ceremony outside of the school building. Hundreds of Ramones fans, many dressed in the band’s signature leather jackets and ripped jeans, gathered to lend support and listen to speeches, including one by Mickey Leigh, Joey Ramone’s brother (the group members, all unrelated, each took on the surname Ramone). Also in attendance were the Ramones’ former manager, Danny Fields, and the band’s tour manager, Monte Melnick.
Related: Our interview with Danny Fields
Said New York City council member Karen Koslowitz, “When students look up and see this bright green sign, some may ask, ‘Who were the Ramones?’ And it will be explained that they are about to do what four giants of the entertainment world did two generations before: Walk through the front doors of Forest Hills High School.”
It was noted in at least one online report that the Ramones beat out several other Forest Hills High graduates in having the street named in their honor, including Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, songwriter Burt Bacharach and Bob “Captain Kangaroo” Keeshan.
The Ramones earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011 and have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Related: A classic rock legend also had a street named for him in Forest Hills in 2018
1 Comment
The Ramones should have been invited to play Bob Dylan’s 30th Anniversary show at MSG in 1992.