Yesterday a small playground in Brooklyn was re-named Adam Yauch Park after the deceased Beastie Boys member, who passed away a year ago today. At the ceremony, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horovitz made a touching (and funny: “Like the Wu-Tang Clan, the Beastie Boys are for the children”) speech about Yauch’s memory and the spirit of growing up in New York, printed in full in Rolling Stone:
“I was trying to think of what to say today, and I was thinking what it means to be a New York kid: People come to New York to be themselves, to express themselves and to be who they want to be. And although Adam’s mom Frances is a New York kid herself, his father Noel came to New York to be himself. And together they raised a New York kid, Adam Yauch, and Noel and Frances raised him right. They taught Adam to be curious, thoughtful, kind and just enough crazy – that craziness that is New York. That New York frenetic energy: It’s musical, artful and always moving forward. And that’s not only Brooklyn, that’s Adam Yauch. And Adam and his wife Dechen raised a daughter Losel, a New York kid that’s equally talented, curious and utterly awesome.
In life you don’t really get to chose your family, your siblings – you get what you’re given. I got lucky cause I got two great sisters and two great brothers, but I got extra lucky because around 1982, I got the chance to choose two other brothers: Mike Diamond and Adam Yauch. And together our families have grown. I’d like to thank the New York Parks Department and the people of Brooklyn for honoring my friend and brother, and recognizing how cool it is to have an Adam Yauch park for other crazy New York kids.”
And here’s a video of the speech.
Image via Getty
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