#1 Paul's Boutique Corner

Lower East Side, New York

99 Rivington Street (corner of Ludlow)
New York, NY, 10012

Phone: (212) 228-8022
Subway: F, J, M, Z, to Delancey St. at Essex St.

MUSICAL REFERENCE: Paul's Boutique, a 1989 album by the Beastie Boys featuring hits "Hello Brooklyn" and "Hey Ladies".
BACKSTORY: Adam "Ad-Rock" Horowitz took the album's title from an old radio ad for a men's clothing store. The problem: Paul's Boutique no longer existed. So the Beasties created a new Paul's Boutique for the album cover shoot, putting up a fake store sign next to the still-visible Lee's Sportswear awning.
FUN FACT: To capitalize on the record's popularity, a Mediterranean restaurant named Paul's Boutique later cropped up at the intersection.
WHAT IT'S LIKE TODAY: In 2007 the restaurant's name was changed to the Three Monkeys, leaving no visible clue to the intersection's music history.

Wikipedia articles
SPURA | Lower East Side | Ludlow Street | Rivington Street

Additional Services
360° Panoramic Photographs

1989 - 1999

2001

2003 - R99 becomes Paul's Boutique January 22, 2003
"Lots of neighborhood news to catch up on this week. Let's start closest to home (well, my home)... Tiny brunch haven Rivington 99 (Rivington @ Ludlow), closed for the last month for renovations, has remade itself rather dramatically. Think Jewel Bako meets Butter, all in a 20x20 space. The menu appears blessedly unchanged, but they've gone and tarted up the name. In honor of the Beastie Boys album of the same name (cover art for which was shot on this very corner), it's now known as Paul's Boutique." - Lockhart Steele

2004

2005

2006

Lower East Side - New York City Panograph 33 Photo Panograph of the Lower East Side, shot by Traitlin Burke, July 2006
All the photos were taken from one spot at Hotel on Rivington, 16th Floor. The center view shows the corner of Rivington and Ludlow Street. Paul's Boutique is right there.

2007

Paul's Boutique becomes The Three Monkeys April 14, 2007
"Sadly, Paul's Boutique is no more. That place went downhill as soon as they switched owners, hired a new staff, and painted the entire inside in an awful explosion of graffiti-esque blobs. Now it's a falafel joint called the Three Monkeys." - JL

Spitzer's Dress Store becomes Spitzer's corner

"On the corner of Rivington and Ludlow Streets on the Lower East Side, new Spitzer’s Corner is to beer what ‘Inoteca located opposite is to wine and cheese. I don’t know how many beers they have on draught, but it’s a lot. Most are local micro-breweries, and often have fantastic names: it’s fun ordering a Smutty Nose Ale or an Old Arrogant Bastard. The place gets busy but in a good way — nice crowd of young, cool professionals, no fratty types looking to hit or be hit on — and they open up the windows when it’s warm. Great fries, too." - James Taylor

"Spitzer's Corner proved itself to be an excellent spot for some relaxing people watching and mostly quite satisfying food. Breezy and bright from the wide-open front, the interior is all massive wooden communal tables and rough-hewn walls made from (presumably never used) pickle barrels. The main downside here: there are no chairs with backs... it's all benches and stools. Spitzer's Corner is located on the corner of Rivington and Ludlow Streets. They have a lengthy wine and beer list, there's a huge back room, and I imagine it gets insanely packed at night." - Scott Lynch

New logo designed by Nicholas Felton.

2008

2009

2010

#2 Grand Royal / G-Son Studio

3218 1/2 Glendale Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90039-1811

Phone: (323) 663-3000

General Comments
Headquarter of Grand Royal Records Inc.

MUSICAL REFERENCE: "Check Your Head", "Ill Communication" and "Hello Nasty" are Beastie Boys' 3rd, 4th and 5th studio album.
BACKSTORY: The creation of "Check Your Head" would commence in Adam Horovitz's Hollywood apartment before being temporarily aborted following repeated threats from a downstairs neighbor. The band then relocated to its own "G-Son" studios (with the parquet floor) in Atwater Village, CA. Mike D came home kind of drunk one night and crashed into the wooden gate at the G Spot house. He was like, "Oh, shit, we've got to get this fixed. We need a carpenter. Mario Caldato Jr. (Beastie Boys producer) said "My boy Mark (Ramos-Nishita) will hook it up." This way "Money" Mark Nishita became the carpenter for that gig and things unfolded petty quickly thereafter. What was to become the "G-Son" studio was an old ballroom, and next to it was a plumbing shop. It was called Gilson's, but the "i" and "L" had fallen of the sign, so the owners just put a little hyphen there and made it "G-Son". The Beastie Boys were getting busy trying to make the record, so "Money" Mark Nishita kind of rushed the making of the control room. They were building and recording at the same time. They also built skateboard ramps in there and put a basketball hoop in. You'd hang and play ball and jam.
FUN FACT: The Atwater Village sign, located at 3000 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90039-2014, next to Thomas Rug Cleaning Co, is often visited by Beastie Boys fans to pose for a photo similar to the one shown on the cover of "Check Your Head".
WHAT IT'S LIKE TODAY: Since 2007 X-Large Clothing, founded by Eli Bonerz with help by Mike D of Beastie Boys, keeps offices at 3222 Glendale Blvd., next to the old studio.

Wikipedia articles
Glendale Boulevard | Atwater Village

Links to Atwater Village
Discover Atwater Village | Friends of Atwater Village | Atwater Village News | Atwater Village Newbie | Atwater Village Forum

Additional Services
360° Panoramic Photographs

Welcome to Atwater Village

1992
MCA, Ad-Rock, Mike D
Beastie Boys
Summer 1995
Dan Fields
June 19, 2004
Adam Royer
Fuse Interactive
April 25, 2007
Rory, Billy, and Eli
X-Large Clothing
May 21, 2010
3x Steve Joachim
Lynchpin Productions

1955

1992 - 1994

1995

Summer 1995 - Dan Fields from Portland, Oregon together with his girlfriend traveled Grand Royal/G-Son Studio in Los Angeles, California after his first trip to Grand Royal/G-Son Studio in 1994 that he did with a buddy. He just wanted to see if he could locate a couple of historic Beastie landmarks. As the following photos show, he could. While only having a camcorder back in 1994 he now took a couple of great photos of G-Son’s interior.

Beastie Boys got their own Studio - The Son Of G

The G-Son was the home of the Beastie Boys, up until late December 2000 when the band packed up their stuff, moved out and sold up. This tour takes you through and gives you a glimpse of what the G-Son once was (around 1995), home of Grand Royal, Milarepa and the famous studios with the parquet floors, where nearly all of "Check Your Head," much of "Ill Communication," and parts of "Hello Nasty" were recorded, among others.

2001 - Grand Royal / G-Son Studio becomes DF1LM Studio

DFILM creates visual communication software for the youth market.

DFILM was founded in 1997 as one of the first major showcases of digital filmmaking. The goal from the beginning was to show how new technology was allowing ordinary consumers to express themselves in exiting new ways. Although a true bootstrap organization in every sense, the company presented a series of sold out screenings of consumer created digital films in 50 cities all over the world. DFILM was also invited to organize the first ever screening of digital filmmaking at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 1999.

DFILM was one of the first (if not the first) digital film festivals and a pioneer of the early web years - founded by Bart Cheever, a pioneer in and of himself. Ben Rigby; joined Dfilm as chief technical officer in the late 90s. His team's first task was to redesign DFILM's website and to find a compelling way to promote the festival. During a brainstorm meeting, Ben devised the "MovieMaker" concept - it would be an easy to use tool for creating and sending online movies. With the backing of DFILM's talented design and management team, the MovieMaker became a reality and soon became more popular than the festival. In 1999, DFILM launched the MovieMaker, which let users create a short animated cartoon on a website and email it to their friends. MovieMaker was extremely viral - each person who received a movie would in turn create and send movies to 4 or 5 additional friends. As a result, the application became phenomenally popular, with over 2 million users creating movies in just the first month it was online. MovieMaker won several major web awards, was praised in places like the New York Times and Newsweek, and it was licensed to companies like Yahoo!, Sam Adams Beer, MisticTeas and the Sierra Club for use on their own sites.

As digital filmmaking became the standard, DFILM shifted focus from the festival towards making viral communications software similar to the MovieMaker. In 2001, DFILM launched "SMAC," a cartoon based messaging system for mobile phones (which launched on Holland's IMode system). DFILM's funds ran dry in the tough tech-bust years and the company went into a period of stasis.

DFILM's team has a long history of innovation and experience in the field of visual communications. Founders created one of the first sites to let users watch movies on the web in 1994 (going live just a few months after Netscape was formed) and the first ever online greeting card site in 1996. DFILM's management team also included some of the world's top youth marketing experts. The company received first round financing from Disney in January 2001.

"DFILM's films push the boundaries of what can be created on computers." - WIRED Magazine

"The computer has made us all publishers and broadcasters, so why not filmmakers? As this traveling festival shows, the technology is out there, and it's growing higher in quality and lower in cost every day." - The Wall Street Journal

"Truly radical; what independent cinema ceased to be once it allied itself with the major studios." - El Nuevo Dia, Puerto Rico

"The core of DFILM's mission is inspiration and empowerment." - The New York Times

"Now Hollywood comes in a box, allowing even one person the ability to shoot, edit and distribute their own film." - USA Today

2004

2006 April 2006 - Grand Royal / G-Son Studio for sale
"$5001500 / 5000ft²

Creative office space in famed Beastie Boys headquarters.

Newly renovated creative office space available in legendary office building, previous Beastie Boys/Grand Royal headquarters. Multiple spacious units of varying size and cost available. Offices/Editing/Sound booths perfect for Film/TV/Music/Apparel/Graphic design company. Located in hip Atwater Village, adjacent to Silver Lake, restaurants, shopping, and parking. Call 323-953-3543 for information and appointment. Available May 1."

October 21, 2006 - Jenny and Cindy from Wisconsin toured G-Son Studio, the Beastie Boys old studio, in Los Angeles. Photos by Cindy. She reports: "Some guy is running a film production company there. I believe he's only renting the space. The building is still for sale. Jenny and I went by there when the Beastie Boys were doing the west coast club gigs. (We had lunch over in that area.) The guy renting the place was doing 'open auditions,' so the door was propped open. I said, 'Let's go.' Jenny replied, 'Oh, you're ballsy.' She followed me up the stairs."

2007 - X-Large Manufacturing LLC moves into 3222 Glendale Blvd.

April 23, 2007 - "Here’s the second installment of the X-LARGE offices. The Beastie Boys used to run half court basketball games in this building in between recording sessions and finding great musical geniuses and treasures like Sean Lennon. The original backboard was made out of plywood, but was shortly replaced with a glass one that is still up today. Heard that the games would get pretty vicious. We share the building with a production house called Fondue Productions. They occupy the space where the studio and half court was while X-LARGE occupies the floor where the Grand Royal offices were, so games are suspended until further notice. The guys at Weekly Drop challenged us to a game, so we may have to push some of the furniture aside to put a whooping on those Boston kids. Hopefully they’re not like Undefeated and run scared." - by Paul Kim (via X-Large Blog)

2008

2009

May 20, 2009 - "High identity corner location, located in Atwater Village with Ample Parking behind the building for lease. Total Space Available: 2,800 SF (Rental Rate: $23.40 /SF/Year). Property Sub-type: Street Retail. Year Built: 1927. Lot Size: 10,367 SF. Cross Streets: Larga Ave. Previous use: Retail pharmacy." - Mike Maniscalchi, Vice President at Stevenson Real Estate Services, Est. 1962
For lease: Retail storefront at 3224 Glendale Blvd.

2010

May 20, 2010 - "The building seems to be all locked up and available for lease. Behind the building is a paint store called Jill's Paint. As you can see the tennis shop is still down the block. As is Bill's Liquor. The neighborhood has actually changed a lot (for the better) since the 90's. There are now a ton of great bars, stores and restaurants lining Glendale Blvd." - Steve Joachim, Senior Producer at Lynchpin Productions Inc.

#3 Panoramic Photographs (360°)

Paul's Boutique in 1989

The following photo was taken by photographer Jeremy Shatan for the cover of the "Paul's Boutique" album. It was also used for the presskit and a limited series of signed posters. Photo taken from the Quicktime VR panorama of the "Don't Mosh In The Ramen Shop" ECD (Unreleased).

Beastie Boys remastered their 1989 epos "Paul's Boutique" in 2009. The following photo was used as cover art for the remastered versions. A limited collectors edition even contained a 8 x 1 foot poster.

Paul's Boutique in 2009 (20 Year Anniversary)

The following photograph was taken in April 2008 by a Google Street View car for use with Google Maps, a feature of Google's search engine.

The following photograph was taken for the 20 year anniversary of "Paul's Boutique". It was shot on April 12, 2009.
Photographer: Stephen L. Harlow, New York, USA. Used with permission.

The following photograph was taken for the 20 year anniversary of "Paul's Boutique". It was shot at six in the morning of October 10, 2009.
Photographer: Sinisa Mazulovic, Zagreb, Croatia. Used with permission.

Grand Royal / G-Son Studios around 1994/95

The following photograph was taken for use with the 1995/96 ECD "Don't Mosh In The Ramen Shop". Due to copyright issues for the variety of content used on the disc, it was never officially released.

Corner of Larga & Glendale, Atwater Village, Los Angeles 2006

The following photograph was taken in 2006 by a Google Street View car for use with Google Maps, a feature of Google's search engine.

Corner of Larga & Glendale, Atwater Village, Los Angeles 2009

The following photograph was taken in May 2009 by a Google Street View car for use with Google Maps, a feature of Google's search engine.

3218 1/2 Glendale Boulevard, Los Angeles 2009

The following photograph was taken in May 2009 by a Google Street View car for use with Google Maps, a feature of Google's search engine.