Yesterday’s rainfall did little to dampen the spirits of the many Ramones fans and local residents who turned out for the unveiling of a new mural at the “Thorneycroft Ramp” in Forest Hills, Queens. The unveiling concluded a day of events organized by the Queens Museum, which also included a bus tour of Ramones sites in Queens and a guided tour of the museum’s exhibition Hey! Ho! Let’s Go: Ramones and the Birth of Punk (co-curated by Marc H. Miller of Gallery 98).
East Village artist Ori Carino (perhaps best known for his murals at the Mars Bar) painted the image of the four Ramones at the ramp, based on a 1975 photograph by rock photographer Bob Gruen. Presiding over the unveiling was musician and author Mickey Leigh (brother of Joey Ramone), who recalled times spent at the ramp in his 2009 memoir, I Slept with Joey Ramone: “We’d always wind up at Thorneycroft, the apartment complex across the street from John’s [Johnny Ramone] building…Invariably everyone would meet up at the Ramp to shoot the shit, pull pranks, hide from the cops, and of course get high.”
None of the four original Ramones is now living, but many of their old gang reunited for yesterday’s event. Leading the bus tour was Richard Adler, who played in the band Tangerine Puppets with the future Tommy and Johnny Ramone while they were in high school together. Other attendees included early Ramones bassist Ira Nagel (in a t-shirt that read “I am the last Ramone”) and Claudia Tienan, Tommy Ramone’s longtime partner. The event could not have taken place without the support of Fanwood Estates building manager Drew Goldberg (a former co-manager, along with Joey Ramone, of the punk band the Independents).
The exhibition Hey! Ho! Let’s Go! is on view at the Queens Museum through July 31. Upcoming programs include “Pop to Punk: the Ramones and Visual Art” (June 19), which will explore the band’s collaborations with Punk magazine and with art director Arturo Vega.
