A piece of the Ramones history went up for sale earlier this month in New York City.
The four-level building where Arturo Vega, designer of the band’s iconic logo, lived from the early ‘70s until his death in 2013 has been listed at $7.5 million U.S.
It’s located at 6 E. 2nd St. just steps from Joey Ramone Place.
“Arturo Vega was like the Ramones’ evil mom,” Dee Dee Ramone wrote in his 2000 memoir Lobotomy: Surviving the Ramones. “A mean Latin queen that tried to pass himself off as French. Although he was really Johnny’s friend, initially he let Joey and me crash in his loft and it was sort of like home for a while.”
Indeed, Vega said in a 1998 interview that Dee Dee lived with him “for only a few months” but Joey stayed there “many many years.” The loft was also where the Ramones had early rehearsals.
The building is around the corner from CBGB, the famed club (which closed in 2006) where the Ramones performed 75 times in the second half of 1974 alone.
The property has 446.5 square metres of residential space and a 149-square-metre home decor store on the ground floor.