Joey Ramone's brother Mickey Leigh wrote on October 20, 2008 that Joey
Ramone Place sign is now across Bowery, instead of across 2nd St. It was
changed because one guy was trying to steal it. BUT NOW JOEY RAMONE
PLACE SIGN IS THERE AGAIN! SEE PHOTO OF NEW SIGN IN RIGHT.I do anyway wants to keep this story still here about crime :
- Joey Ramone's brother Mickey Leigh wrote following on September 28, 2008 (luckily that guy got arrested):
"Joey Ramone Street Sign Bandit Caught!
On September 7, a 28 year old man (who's name we will not publicize, yet) tried to steal the Joey Ramone Place street sign. The criminal was caught in the act by Joey Ramone Place resident Chuck Smith, a next door neighbor of Ramone's staffer, Arturo Vega. Chuck tried to convince the crook to stop but the guy proceeded, saying he worked for NYC, and the city was giving the sign to Joey's uncle. The cretin nabbed the sign and began to walk away with it - with Chuck in pursuit. Finally, Chuck summoned a passing police car. The cops apprehended the thief and arrested him.
Thanks to the support of some good people in the city's government the sign will be replaced soon.* A huge thank you to Chuck, for boldy and effectively preventing Joey's sign from being stolen; and to Arturo who is keeping in touch with the authorities to ensure the sign gets restored to it's rightful place where people - Ramones fans, punk rock fans, and just curious people from all over the world are assured to see it. It might be the only thing remaining on the Bowery that can remind everyone of why they are there, and who paved the way for them.
Thanks also to Danny Fields for first report of the incident to us, as Arturo was out of town at the time. Mickey Leigh." (September 29, 2008)
BASIC INFOS AND OLDER NEWS:
(I've wanted to keep also older news of the Joey Ramone, that
you'll see
how the progress was. Here's first latest news, then older ones from
2001-2003).(Collage of the pictures is by Dean Roderick. It contains Tommy Ramone, Marky Ramone, Joey's mother Charlotte and brother Mickey, and in the bottom are: Little Steven, Hilly Kristal and Lenny Kaye.)
Finally was day - November 30, 2003, our dear Joey Ramone got his way, where we all fans can meet mentally with him. JOEY RAMONE PLACE sign was covered with Ramones Eagle logo T-shirt before cerenomies started. At first there was cerenomy inside CBGB's where Joey's family, friends and fans delivered heartfelt tributes to Joey. CBGB's was totally full. then started cerenomies outside CBGB, where after a few words by Joey's family and the local city officials that supported the event, the crowd started a chant of HEY HO LET'S GO, followed by a countdown, then the Ramones Eagle logo T-shirt covering the sign was pulled by Arturo Vega and crowd went wild after seeing JOEY RAMONE PLACE. During these cerenomies were speaking in example Joey's mother Charlotte Lesher and brother Mickey Leigh, and Tommy Ramone, Marky Ramone, Hilly Kristal, Arturo Vega, Steven Van Zandt, Danny Fields, Jim Jarmusch, Lenny Kaye, Kevin Patrick, Jesse Malin, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Andy Shernoff, Richie Stotts, Donna Gaines, Meg Griffin, Vin Scelsa, Rachel Felder, George Seminara, Ray Goodman and Jimmy Webb (Trash &Vaudeville), Sonia Sanchez (Wowsville), Dave Frey, Sy Hyman etc.
Tim informed me that he added video clips of the ceremony for his site, check 9 different clips, in example when Hilly Kristal, Marky Ramone, Mickey Leigh, John Holmstrom and Arturo Vega are speaking. click here.
You'll see some pics in example at Ramones.com
and at drchud.com.
and DJ Strip's photos are here.
Don't forget to check out also CBGB's site.
Here you can read article from Village Voice by Dr. Donna Gaines.
(Village Voice, Sound of the City, December 10-16, 2003)
(Collage of the pictures is by Deborah Olin. It contains
Joey's uncle Sy Hyman, John Holmstrom, Marky Ramone, Legs McNeil, Joey's
mother Charlotte and independant filmaker Jim Jarmusch).
Not 53rd & 3rd
Joey Ramone Gets His Place (in the 9-to-5 world, and beyond)
By 1 p.m., two generations of punk loyalists had swarmed the corner of East 2nd Street and the Bowery for the city's formal dedication of Joey Ramone Place, immortalizing the relationship between the King of Punk and the city that spawned him. Following Joey's untimely death in 2001, a teenage fan from Staten Island spearheaded the street sign movement. On Sunday, November 30, her dream came true-now punks have something to lean against.
Meantime, inside CBGB, high mass was in progress. Joey's brother-guitarist Mickey Leigh-and Punk magazine founders Legs McNeil and John Holmstrom officiated, as a parade of family, friends, scene entrepreneurs, and luminaries offered heartfelt testimonials to the huddled masses. Marky Ramone said, "Joey was a true New Yorker, and only a New Yorker could have spawned the Ramones." Talking Heads' Chris Franz observed, "Joey Ramone was an outsider artist. He was a person who truly lived at the edge while challenging our traditional cultural values." The Dictators' Dick Manitoba quipped, "What's the big deal about a street sign? It should be fucking Joey Ramone Boulevard!"
Borrowing from Gandhi, Ramones artistic director Arturo Vega summed up the Ramones' last 30 years: "At the beginning, they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Then they fight you. Then you win." Indeed, Joey's punk politics permeated this bittersweet family affair. The cultural freedom-fighter from Forest Hills demanded the airwaves and open space for kids to create and consume music. The street sign symbolizes CBGB's role in the end-of-the-century revitalization of the Bowery. Now, as condos and luxury buildings impose themselves upon the landscape, and landlord greed and NYU encroachment threaten to shut CBGB, Lenny Kaye applauded the sign as a historical referent in an ominous future.
Sporting a CBGB T-shirt, with a proclamation signed and sealed by Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, Council- man Alan Gerson formally declared November 30 "Joey Ramone Day." At around 2:30 p.m., the sign, covered with a black Ramones T-shirt, was unveiled amid hearty chants of "hey ho let's go." A giant Joey Ramone puppet head on a stick carried a sign, a prayer; "1-2-3-4ever in our heart, soul, gut." Meantime, everyone began placing their bets: "How long do you think it will be before some punk steals that sign?"
-Dr. Donna Gaines
(Collage of the pictures is by Dean Roderick. It contains
SIGN and Arturo Vega).Here you can read story by Linda Iorio:
" I went to the unveiling of "Joey Ramone Place" in NYC today -- the corner of East 2nd St. & Bowery, which is right near CBGB's. This project has been in the works for over a year, and it was originally conceived by a Ramones fan named Maureen, who is only 20 or 21 years old. I went to some of the early City Council meetings and it was a lot of red tape to get this project off the ground.
There were hundreds of people there, crowded on the street corner. There were kids as young as 6 months old, up to old punks in their 50's. The actual street sign was covered in a black Ramones T-shirt with a rope attached, and was unveiled by Arturo Vega, the band's longtime friend and art director. Arturo took off his shirt to reveal a huge Ramones "logo" tattoo on his back (he's the artist behind the famous logo and all the Ramones' T-shirts).
Joey's mother, Charlotte was there, his brother Mickey Leigh, among other Ramones significant others -- Marky Ramone, Legs McNeil (author of Please Kill Me, a punk biography), John Holmstrom (of Punk magazine), Jesse Malin, Steve Van Zandt, the City Council woman who signed the necessary papers to name the street, and others.
I didn't see Steven Van Zandt because he was inside CBGB's with the others for a pre-unveiling ceremony, but I didn't know this until it was too late and they weren't letting any more people inside. So I just waited outside on the street corner with hundreds of other fans. I saw quite a few familiar faces from in & around the NYC music scene too.
Eyewitness News was there, and I tried calling someone at home to set their VCR, but afterwards I asked the reporter what time the News was on, and she said she was from radio, not TV. 1010WINS (NY) radio was there and I heard the story on my ride home tonight. Charlotte said it was the best day of her life, and that she'd probably cause an accident every time she drives by the sign! I've met her several times, and she's always such a lovely and gracious lady. She had tears in her eyes as she spoke to the crowd and to the 1010WINS reporter. The reporter got everyone to chant the famous Ramones' rave-up, "Hey Ho, Let's Go", and there was Charlotte, with the rest of us, chanting and pumping her fist in the air! A young girl gave her a framed drawing she drew of Joey, and Charlotte was deeply touched.
It was a historical day for punkers everywhere!
OLDER INFOS OF JOEY RAMONE PLACE: NOVEMBER 2003:
- JOEY RAMONE WAY (NOT PLACE....)!!!
GABBA WAYS! Joey's brother Mickey informed, finally, it's now official! The city of New York renames the corner of 2nd Street and the Bowery on November 30, 2003 at 1pm. There's an official ceremony that will be held that day, then they put sign also. Also celebration is at CBGB. So from the beginning it was going to be Joey Ramone Place, but Mickey wrote on November 24, 2003: "The Dept of Traffic informed us TODAY! that the street sign they made will say "Joey Ramone Way" not the aforementioned "Joey Ramone Place" which had been the plan from the inception, and was the name approved by the city council people. "
(OBS, YEAH, IN THE END IT CAME JOEY RAMONE PLACE)!!!!!
And then afternoon November 28 sign was placed to wrong place, to the front of CBGB, but then Arturo Vega changed place to correct location etc. Arturo Vega wrote on early November, 2003:
We think it's the perfect spot to honor Joey since it's half a block away both from CBGB, the BOWERY joint that saw the beginning of the Ramones career, and the "Ramones Loft" on SECOND STREET that Joey, Dee Dee and I (Arturo) shared in the 70's .
ROLLING STONE -article, November 10, 2003 by ANDREW DANSBY
Joey Ramone Gets Street Cred.
The corner of Second Street and the Bowery in New York City will officially be named "Joey Ramone Place" during a November 30th ceremony.
Ramone's corner is on the north side of the block that houses CBGB, the legendary club where the Ramones helped usher in punk rock.
"As far as the city recognizing Joey, it's about time," CB's owner Hilly Kristal says. "The Ramones meant a lot to this city and to music. They were the original punk rock band. Their longevity supercedes anybody who sold more records, and the consistency and meaning of their name is greater than anybody in the punk rock field."
The location is almost as much a tip to Kristal's club as it is to Ramone, who found his faux-sib bandmates closer to his home in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York. CBGB celebrates its thirtieth anniversary next month, and Kristal figures it was within the venue's first six months that the Ramones made their first appearance. In an online history of CB's, Kristal recalled thinking at first that the Ramones were "the most untogether group I'd ever heard . . . a mess." But he became a champion for the nascent punk scene despite the fact that his club's name stood for Country Bluegrass Blues. "The key is that Joey and [bassist] Dee Dee wrote great little songs," he says. "They were not pretentious, just real and simple back to rock & roll-type songs. It's why you still hear them today."
Ramone's fans had been trying to get the corner named after him almost immediately after his death, from cancer, in April 2001. While the group never enjoyed much commercial success during its time, the past few years have seen a greater sense of appreciation for the Ramones, including a tribute album and their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Dee Dee Ramone died later that year, leaving guitarist Johnny Ramone and drummer Tommy Ramone as the sole surviving members of the band's original lineup.
The ceremony for the installation of the Joey Ramone Place sign is scheduled for 1 p.m. on the 30th.
OLDER INFOS OF JOEY RAMONE PLACE: FEBRUARY 2003:
Here are some infos before. Arturo Vega wrote in February 2, 2003 following:
The city of New York took one more step towards renaming the corner of 2nd Street and the Bowery JOEY RAMONE PLACE. The Council finally took a resolution bringing the process closer to complition. A good reason to move forward was the initiative to name other parts of the city to honor victims of the attack of September 11.
OLDER AND BASIC INFOS ETC. OF JOEY RAMONE PLACE: 2001-2002:
Gabba Yeah!!!! The New York City Community Board # 3 voted unanimously
to approve the petition to rename the corner of 2nd Street and the
Bowery:JOEY RAMONE PLACE.
Arturo Vega told, that this means the people has spoken and the biggest obstacle has been cleared, but it doesn't mean it's all over. Now it's in the hands of the local politicians who have to be convinced that somehow they can benefit from it. And given the fact that the city is in crisis, and that the government is changing this could mean delays, but.... It's only a matter of time now.
Arturo read his letter at the community board meeting and he's organising campaign. With it you can support the cause and get the JOEY RAMONE PLACE T-shirt, the proceeds from those sales will go to benefit community projects in the East Village. Buy it now from http://www.ramonesworld.com/-store.
NY TIMES -article, October 21st, by DENNY LEE.
Ramone Fans Say Love Never Dies
"Who is Joey Ramone?"
Maureen Wojciechowski, a 20-year-old from Staten Island, faced that question last week. She had come to Community Board 3 seeking its approval to name the block of the Bowery in front of CBGB, the fabled East Village club, after the gawky, mop-headed icon of punk who died of cancer April 15.
But only two of the eight board members said they had heard of his band, the Ramones. So Morris Faitelewicz, chairman of the board's Transportation Committee, asked for a primer.
Ms. Wojciechowski, a lifelong fan who wore black eyeliner and matching nail polish for the occasion, nervously described "the homegrown group" that gave birth to an international style of music. "When the Ramones and other bands played at CBGB," she said, "it made the Bowery more of a happening place."
Several friends came along to back her up, including Mr. Ramone's mother, Charlotte Lesher, and John Holmstrom, a co- founder of Punk magazine who coined the name of the music.
Mr. Holmstrom, dressed in a black leather jacket and a Ramones T-shirt, broke into song. "Hey, ho, let's go!" he chanted repeatedly, invoking the reprise to the Ramones' 1976 track "Blitzkrieg Bop." "They play it at every sports stadium in the country."
But these testimonials seemed to fall short. Did CBGB support the honorary street name? Would other music legends be offended? Were any neighbors opposed? The board asked Ms. Wojciechowski to do some homework and return next month.
Hilly Kristal, the owner of CBGB, which is on the Bowery between First and Second Streets, seemed to support the idea.
"This was their launching pad," he said in an interview, explaining why hundreds of Ramones fans had turned his club into a shrine this spring. "And they helped solidify CBGB's reputation as the punk capital."
After the meeting, the punk rock fans were holding a powwow in the hallway when an unnamed representative from the city's Department of Transportation approached to sign a "Road for Joey" petition. Mr. Ramone, it seems, had a fan inside the agency that puts up street signs.
The whole thing resembled a scene from "Rock 'n' Roll High School," the 1979 cult film about a bunch of misfits hellbent on subverting their music-hating principal with the aid of their favorite band, the Ramones.
"Joey changed the way we looked at other people," Ms. Wojciechowski said. "You didn't have to be the most popular, the most talented or the best looking. He said anyone could be cool."
2 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE FROM 2001: SECOND ARTICLE: mtv.com , November 8, by JOE D'ANGELO
NEW YORK The East Village street corner located a few yards away from legendary punk club CBGB is one step closer to being known as Joey Ramone Place.
On Wednesday, the Public Safety and Transportation Committee of Manhattan's Community Board 3 unanimously approved a proposition by 20-year-old Maureen Wojciechowski to dub the corner of East Second Street and the Bowery after the late punk icon who, along with the likes of Patti Smith, Television and the Talking Heads, helped bring the genre to life at CBGB in the mid-'70s.
"I came up with the idea right after Joey's 50th birthday, but wasn't sure exactly how," Wojciechowski, a Staten Island resident, said. "Then someone mentioned honorary street signs, and how, as is the case with most in the city, no one knows who they are [named for]. So I thought, 'That's it. I'll put one up for Joey Ramone.' "
In order for Joey Ramone Place to become a reality, the proposal must be approved by the 50-member community board at a meeting on November 15. Members of the committee said they're fairly confident their decision in favor of the honorary street sign won't be met with opposition.
Wojciechowski first approached the board in October, and she was instructed to return with a petition of support signed by local residents and businesses, which she brought to Wednesday's meeting.
"The Ramones were just so much fun, and Joey was such an individual," Wojciechowski said. "Twenty years later he was still the same person that he was in the '70s nothing changed. I saw him two years ago, and he looked exactly as he did in 1978. He was true to New York City, and he was really cool."
Hilly Kristal, owner of CBGB, attended the meeting, as did Ramone's mother, Charlotte Lesher, and John Holmstrom, co-founder of Punk magazine, who gave a name to the punk movement. "The East Village, probably more than any other place in the city, historically has been the melting pot of people who became famous and went to do wonderful things," said Kristal, a 28-year resident of the community. "Joey Ramone helped countless musicians, more than any other artist I can think of. He stood for something good. Joey left a very important mark on New York and the East Village, especially, and I'm proud that he played CB's and proud that he made his home here."
Although the proposal was to bestow the honor on a single corner, Wojciechowski said she'd like to see Joey Ramone Place stretch one crosstown block to Second Avenue.