Fans of the legendary Hip Hop group, the Beastie Boys petition to get the intersection featured on the cover of their 1989 album 'Pauls Boutique' to be named after the group. But a local community board says no.

Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic
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Brooklyn, N.Y., resident LeRoy McCarthy started a petition to rename the intersection at Ludlow and Rivington Streets in Manhattan’s Lower East Side Beastie Boys Square.  After the first meeting with Community Board 3, the proposal was rejected on Tuesday (Jan. 28).  McCarthy claims the board offered to give him another shot provided he could get support for the proposed intersection by February.

That's exactly what McCarthy did and he actually managed round up more than 1,500 signatures from surrounding residents and businesses.  None the less, after presenting the signatures to the board, he was informed that a unanimous vote denied the proposal all together.  In addition, McCarthy cannot reapply or submit the proposal again for the next five years.

Unlike the previous meeting, McCarthy wasn't notified that there was going to be a vote, he didn't attend it.  He reportedly even received an email telling him the proposal would be on the agenda for February’s meeting.  But it looks like the Community Board 3 had no intention to go through it.

Speaking to DNA Info McCarthy said of this, “I was blindsided.  Once again I was blindsided and not given the opportunity to present the full material they [CB3] requested. They did not give me a chance to be heard at the committee, which was the arrangement that had been made.”

Since the initial meeting McCarthy has collected 200 more signatures in support for re-naming of the intersection. However, it doesn't look like Beastie Boy square is ever gonna happen.  If that's so, it's unclear as to whether or not McCarthy’s going to try another avenue or if he's all out of options.

The Community Board chairwoman, Gigi Li spoke on the issue and claimed a renaming requires 15 years of community service to the neighborhood.  Li, added "My decision was based on the fact that it did not meet the criteria and the fact that previously our most recent group of co-namings held each application to the high standard of meeting every single criteria we set out for co-namings."

McCarthy's overall goal is to increase the recognition of hip hop from New York City, and he wants an artist recognized in each borough. There's already a Queens intersection named "Run-DMC JMJ Way" and McCarthy is looking into something for Wu-Tang Clan in the Park Hill neighborhood of Staten Island.

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