Fans Push to Rename Squibb Park in Honor of MCA

Some Beastie Boys fans are ready to fight for the right to honor MCA.

A Facebook petition page launched on May 16 calls for Brooklyn Heights' Squibb Park, currently being renovated as a skateboarding facility, to be renamed to honor the late Adam Yauch according to a report on Billboard Magazine's site. 

Yauch, under the stage name MCA, was one of the founding members of the highly-influential Brooklyn-based rap group the Beastie Boys. He at the age of 47.

The band was in December of 2011. On May 16, with a resolution on the Sentate floor for his contributions to music as well as "humanist issues locally and around the world."

A post on the Facebook page's wall says:

"The Brooklyn Heights Blog community believes that it would be a fitting tribute to name it after Brooklyn Heights native, musician, humanitarian Adam Yauch (MCA) of the Beastie Boys. Adam Yauch Park sits directly across the street from the Harry Chapin Playground which is also named after a great Brooklyn Heights resident, musician and humanitarian."

The Beastie Boys have long been associated with the skateboarding and BMX scenes, according to ESPN. Star athletes such as skateboarder Tony Hawk and BMX cyclist Rick Thorne issued statements in the wake of his demise, and used Beastie Boys music in numerous videos.

Yauch himself was an avid snowboarder, and told ESPN that growing up he enjoyed skateboarding, skiiing and swimming.

Squibb Park is currently named after Dr. Edward Robinson Squibb (1819-1900), co-founder of Squibb Pharmaceuticals, which later became Bristol Meyers Squibb, Inc. Squibb was born in Delaware but moved to Brooklyn in 1858. He built the first Squibb laboratories behind the current playground, where his name is still visible on some of the smokestacks.