If the lineup for the third annual MCA Day seemed a little lackluster, that’s because they failed to advertise the breakdancing monks. Seen above, four men dressed in Tibetan garb pay physical tribute to the late, great Adam “MCA” Yauch, executing acrobatic moves in Union Square while the Beastie Boys’ “Ch-Check It Out” plays on an unseen boom-box. Their performance actually took place ahead of the official event, which happened in Brooklyn on May 3.

Yauch was a practicing Buddhist married to Tibetan-American activist, Dechen Wangdu. He founded the Milarepa Fund devoted to raising money for and promoting awareness of the Tibetan independence movement, and also launched the Tibetan Freedom Concert series back in 1996. Yauch passed away on May 4, 2012 after a three-year battle with cancer of the salivary gland. Revisit our gallery, Beastie Boys: 25 Years of Mad Genius.