QUEENS — It's now officially Rock 'n' Roll High School.
The street in front of Forest Hills High School, attended by the four original members of the Ramones — Jeffrey Hyman (Joey), Thomas Erdelyi (Tommy), Douglas Colvin (Dee Dee), and John Cummings (Johnny) — was named for them Sunday during a ceremony that drew hundreds of fans, many of them wearing black leather jackets and T-shirts with the famous Ramones logo.
Some came from as far as Sweden.
“I’ve been a fan since 1991,” said Fredrik Sixtensson, 38, a psychiatric nurse from Stockholm. “This is one of the highlights of my trip to New York.”
Sixtensson was also planning to go to Rockaway Beach after the ceremony to see the place named after his favorite Ramones song, he said.
Robert Yenco, 52, of East Elmhurst, brought a giant Joey Ramone mask.
“The unveiling of The Ramones Way is monumental so now everyone can always remember the band,” Yenco said. “And everyone here gets so much joy out of the Joey Ramone mask.”
Robert Yenco, of East Elmhurst, brought a giant Joey Ramone mask. (Photo: DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska)
Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, who sponsored the street naming, said that students at the school, at the intersection of 67th Avenue and 110th Street, will from now on be reminded that they "walk through the front doors of Forest Hills High School [just like] four giants of the entertainment world did two generations before.”
A number of other famous musicians also graduated from Forest Hills High School, including Paul Simon, Art Garfunkel and Burt Bacharach.
“With all of the famous musicians that graduated from Forest Hills High School ... putting this sign in front and having this celebration validates our claim as Rock 'n' Roll High School," said Neil Rosenblatt, an assistant principal at the school.
(DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska)
Mickey Leigh, the younger brother of Joey Ramone, who has been pushing for the renaming for about a decade, said he hopes the sign will inspire everyone who sees it.
“That’s what this is all about,” he said. “To keep the inspiration going.”
Reflecting on the band's history, he said that the Ramones were initially misunderstood by musical journalists who often took their songs too literally, instead of looking for “the poetic aspect of their lyrics.”
When they sang “Now I wanna sniff some glue / Now I wanna have somethin' to do” they referred to the reality that surrounded them, the same way that hip-hop artists do, Leigh said.
Mickey Leigh speaks about the Ramones in front of Forest Hills High School (Photo: DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska)
Captain Sensible of legendary British punk rock band The Damned, who also attended the ceremony, said that it’s important for younger generations to know about The Ramones.
“A lot of young musicians are now looking at the TV karaoke programs like Simon Cowell’s 'X Factor' and this choreographed and packaged way of making music," he said. "The Ramones were the absolute opposite. Their records sound so pure. They can teach us how to get back to a simple kind of punk rock.”
Captain Sensible of The Damned (Photo: DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska)
In 2003, the corner of the Bowery and 2nd Street, near the former location of rock club CBGB, was also renamed "Joey Ramone Place."
