On Monday, I had the privilege of seeing Adam Horovitz and Michael Diamond (Ad-Rock and Mike D) of the Beastie Boys at Town Hall in New York City.  They were promoting their new book, Beastie Boys Book.

Earlier that day, I arrived to see merchandise and their books being delivered.  I also saw set pieces being unloaded.

After being let into Town Hall, the line for exclusive merchandise filled the entire venue.  I went upstairs to check out the Beastie Boys exhibit.  There were display cases full of rare items.  It overwhelmed the senses.  The Sonos company had records that were sampled on the Beastie Boys albums that people could play.  Sonos also had a complementary Beastie Boys playlist poster.

In the audience was their family, Jimmy Fallon, Murray Hill, Champagne Jerry, a member of Twenty One Pilots and the crew from MCA Day.

It was a great, well-produced show.  It consisted of readings from the book, Adam and Mike riffing back-and-forth, photos and videos, as well as the awesome Mixmaster Mike spinning classics in-between.

It was funny, deep and emotional.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I’m so glad I was there.

WWF wrestling legend, Nikolai Volkoff, passed away this weekend.  He was 70.

Here are photos I took in 1985 and 1986 at Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Greedy, evil financiers took out a $5 billion loan to purchase the best toy store that ever was and ever will be, Toys R Us.  There was no way Toys R Us would be able to repay this loan.  It was designed to fail and it did.

At present, they are liquidating everything in their Wayne, New Jersey corporate campus.  I decided to take a drive through the campus. The place is massive and beautiful.  It’s located on a lake and is an animal sanctuary of sorts.  The building is so big that there are maps inside so people don’t get lost.

The company they hired to liquidate has been clearing out offices as people leave the company.  They keep finding stuff in closets and whatnot.  Mostly junk.  I saw them trying to sell a pair of boots someone left under their desk.  No bargains.

Must have been a neat place to work with all those toys around.

Employees from around the world have been taking road trips to possibly obtain any keepsake of the company to which they dedicated their lives.

The liquidation was supposed to be finished by the end of June, but it has been extended into July.

Here is video of the drive through, as well as some photos from the sale.  The sale actually takes place in the cafeteria.

As a Toys R Us kid, this is absolutely heartbreaking.  I hope they don’t build condos.

I started listening to Kid Kelly on Z-100 when I was in High School.

His show was fantastic.  It was a big party.  Little did I know that it was just Kid Kelly and one other guy (Tom) in a tiny studio in the swamps of Secaucus, New Jersey.

I called in every night to request a song for the nightly countdown.  He must have liked me because he used me night after night.  He actually had me change my name and location so people wouldn’t realize it was this same kid again.

He made me want to become a Disc Jockey.  He quickly corrected me.  “Anyone can be a disc jockey. I’m an air personality.”  Kid was right.  There was no one out there like him.

Kid was the number one show in New York City.  He was the highest paid air personality in New York City…the number one market.  

He was the hardest working man in radio. 

Kid soon had a syndicated radio show Backtrax USA which could be heard around the world.  He explained to me that he put “USA” because other countries love American entertainment.

I never went into radio.  Never became an Air Personality.  We’ve kept in touch over the years.  He’s a nice guy and always willing to offer advice.

Kid Kelly has been nominated for the Radio Hall of Fame.  Voting starts June 4th.  It’s a fan vote so let’s all vote.

To sweeten the pot he’s offering a $5k prize.

James Murray from Impractical Jokers was at Red Lobster in Times Square today.  Murr was hired by the company to promote their Lobsterfest.  He gave away gift cards, jokers bobble heads, action figures, his book and stickers.  In addition, he took selfies with anyone that wanted one. If you had gotten there early and were seated, Red Lobster comp’d your meal.  He was there for 3 hours.

100 mins on broken train with no AC, no seat, darkness, poor communication devices used by mechanics.  And AT&T has no coverage in the tunnels.

At 10am this morning, Apple opened it’s second Brooklyn location.  ‘Downtown Brooklyn’ is located directly next to the Barclays center.  The place is beautiful.  There were 50 people on line at 8am, but by 10am the line was around the block.

Didn’t notice any upper management Apple employees on hand.  Whereas, Angela Ahrendts was at the World Trade Center Oculus opening.

The usual private security firm was there.  They’ve been using the same company for as long as I can remember.  I recognize the faces.

Floyd Mayweather’s TMT SUVs rolled up in front of the Chase Bank at 3 Times Square this afternoon.  Cops didn’t know about it and quickly ticketed the vehicles.  A huge crowd of people quickly gathered.  Tourists had difficulty getting by.  Floyd left the bank after approx 20 mins, wearing a white hoodie so you could barely see his face.

Apple has begun renovations and temporarily moved it’s Fifth Ave New York City store to the old FAO Schwartz building (which is behind it).

Over the coming weeks, workers are going to completely dig up the area surrounding Steve Job’s glass cube.  If you’ve ever been in the store, you’ve noticed the ceilings are very low.  The renovations consist of digging the floor three feet deeper and expanding the back of the store into what is currently a parking garage.

The renovations will take over two years…which means that tourists and nearby employees will need to find a new place to eat lunch.