Fans of all ages are flocking to Queens Museum to pay tribute to the influential punk rock band from Forest Hills, the Ramones.  NY1’s Tanya
Klich reports.


Thousands of fans flocked to the Queens Museum on Sunday for the opening of ‘Hey! Ho! Let’s Go: The Ramones and the Birth of Punk.” For Linda Ramone, widow of guitarist Johnny Ramone, the exhibit sparked a trip down memory lane. ​ 

"This is a great day for the Ramones because here we all are back in Queens where everyone was born," said Linda Ramone. "He was a rebel, let's put it that way, in Queens. He started a lot of trouble!"He also helped start a new genre of music. 

"The Ramones, being four guys from Forest Hills, it made sense for the Queens Museum to do a deep dive into their history and explore their influence,"  said Laura Raicovich,
president at the Queens Museum.

Organizers say the band's life in New York City influenced the exhibit. It traces the foursome’s path as classmates at Forest Hills High School, to the downtown nightclub CBGB. The exhibit marks the 40th anniversary of the Ramones' first record. 

"The album 40 years ago changed my life and all other fans of punk rock and rock and roll, it just re-energized everything," said exhibit attendee Joe Finnegan, of Long Island. 

Exhibit organizers collected roughly 400 items, including snapshots, posters, instruments ... and lots of leather. Most of the memorabilia came from Monte A. Melnick, their tour manager of 20 years.

"Everything here means something to me," said Melnick. "I walk around I have flashbacks of all the shows we played." 

The Ramones exhibit is part of the museum’s event called “Queens International.” The biannual event features artists from Queens – but the four from Forest Hills stole the show.  

"The Ramones themselves were talented with art," said Marc H. Miller, the curator of the Ramones exhibit. "Early on in the first room of the exhibit is a great drawing by Joey Ramone and he used to think of it as ‘Everybody at CBGB.’ It's from 1978 and you could spend an hour looking just at that one drawing."

Those closest to the Ramones say the exhibit's location at the Queens Museum is extra meaningful because it's a nod to the band's roots in the borough. 

"I wish they could've all been here to see this," said Vera Ramone King, ex-wife of band member Dee Dee Ramone.

"The original name of the exhibit was the Ramones come home,” said Melnick.

The Ramones will be “home,” on display at the Queens Museum, through July 31 before the exhibit heads to the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.