BEASTIE PLAYGROUND: Brooklyn Heights park dedicated to Adam Yauch

May 3, 2013 From NYC Parks Department

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Brooklyn officials joined the family of Beastie Boys’ Adam Yauch on Friday to dedicate a Brooklyn Heights playground in his honor.

On hand were Brooklyn Parks Commissioner Kevin Jeffrey, Borough President Marty Markowitz, Council Member Stephen Levin;, Beastie Boys member Adam Horovitz, Adam’s parents Noel and Frances Yauch, rename Palmetto Playground at the foot of State Street in honor of Brooklyn native Adam Yauch.

“Our city’s parks play a fundamental role in the social and physical development of young New Yorkers,” said Commissioner Jeffrey. “Adam Yauch grew up playing in Palmetto Playground, and we are very proud to honor his memory by naming this park after him. Adam’s legacy — in the music business and beyond – will touch the lives of New Yorkers and visitors to Brooklyn Heights for years to come.”

“Bravo to Parks Department Commissioner Veronica White and Brooklyn Commissioner Kevin Jeffrey for renaming Palmetto Playground in honor of one of Brooklyn’s most culturally influential sons, Adam ‘MCA’ Yauch,” said Borough President Markowitz.

“And, to Yauch’s fellow Beastie Boys Adam ‘Ad-Rock’ Horovitz, Mike ‘Mike D’ Diamond and to the Yauch family, especially ‘all the mothers and sisters and the wives and friends/ I want to offer my love and respect to the end,’” the borough president said, quoting a Beastie Boys lyric.

Yauch was not only a founding member of Beastie Boys, but also established the Milarepa Fund that produced the Tibetan Freedom Concert benefits and created the film production and distribution company Oscilloscope Laboratories.

Born in Brooklyn, Yauch played in State Street Park (later renamed Palmetto Playground) as a child. The park was the setting for some of Yauch and his family’s fondest memories, including his father Noel teaching him to ride a bike.

Adam later taught himself to play bass in high school, forming the band that later became the Beastie Boys. With fellow members Michael “Mike D” Diamond and Horovitz, the Beastie Boys would go on to sell more than 40 million records, release four Number One albums and win three Grammys.

Yauch passed away May 4, 2012, at the age of 47 after a three-year battle with cancer.