Adam Yauch, the Beastie Boy otherwise known as MCA, had a Brooklyn playground renamed for him Friday, a day before the one-year anniversary of his death.

Palmetto Playground, in the Brooklyn Heights section of the New York City borough where Yauch grew up, became Adam Yauch Park.

Noel Yauch, right, and Frances Yauch, center, the parents of former Beastie Boy Adam "MCA" Yauch, attend a park dedication in his honor in Brooklyn on Friday. Daniel Zuchnik / Today

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According to updated information on the City of New York Parks & Recreation website, Yauch grew up going to the playground at Columbia Place and State Street, and his father, Noel, taught him to ride his bike there. The area contains basketball courts, a community garden, a greenhouse, a fitness area, open play space and a dog run.

Yauch's former Beastie Boys bandmate Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz was in attendance Friday and, according to Rolling Stone, thanked the Parks Department and the people of Brooklyn, "for honoring my friend and brother, and recognizing how cool it is to have an Adam Yauch Park for other crazy New York kids."

Adam "Ad Rock" Horovitz of the Beastie Boys attends the renaming of Palmetto Playground in Brooklyn. Daniel Zuchnik / Today

Yauch's mother, Frances, helped to unveil the park's new plaque and also spoke. "All the kids he knew in the '80s had bands; that's what kids did," she said of her son. "Adam made us so proud of him, and I'm proud to have this park in his name."

Yauch and childhood friends Horovitz and Mike "Mike D" Diamond formed the Beastie Boys in 1981. The hip-hop trio found fame with their first album, "Licensed to Ill," and went on to worldwide success with seven more albums over the years.



Yauch died on May 4, 2012, of salivary gland cancer. He was 47.



The Beastie Boys, from left, Adam Horovitz, Mike Diamond and Adam Yauch at the Grammy Awards on Feb. 24, 1987. Ron Galella / Today



