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.

ANDREW DANSBY
(November 10, 2003)