Ride of Fame

Ride of Fame

Ride of Fame curtain covering the Tracey Bregman double decker bus prior to its unveiling on April 7, 2014.
Established	May 4, 2010
Location	New York City, New York
Type	Celebrity Career Achievement
Number of inductees	34
Director	David W. Chien
Website	Official website

The Ride of Fame is a series of mobile monuments in New York City honoring public figures for being exemplary New Yorkers who have represented the city in a positive light over the course of their life. Each figure who is honored on the Ride of Fame is presented with a personal decal which is permanently applied to the front of a red double-decker tourist bus as well as a personalized seat on the top.^[1][2]

History

Rachael Ray posing with her Ride of Fame decal

The Ride of Fame began on May 4, 2010 when Emmy Award winner and bestselling author Rachael Ray was honored as part of the Gray Line Worldwide’s 100th birthday celebration. Gray Line New York, New York City’s chapter of Gray Line, which was founded in 1926, hosted the event and Ray’s honorary decal on one of their buses. A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place in front of Ray’s studio before she led a group of 50 fans on a tour atop the bus that was dedicated in her honor.^[3]

Since Rachael Ray, over a dozen more public figures have been honored on the Ride of Fame and presented with a decal for their own double-decker bus. Each public figure has had a ribbon cutting ceremony, most of which take place at Pier 78 on the Hudson River, but some ceremonies have taken place elsewhere, including Times Square and Central Park.

On October 13th, 2012 during Air Supply's induction ceremony, the band was presented with a pair of honorary seats on the top deck of the bus along with a decal on the front. Air Supply was also the first to be inducted as an Immortal honoree; part of the IIi designation in which each nominee is inducted as either Immortal, It or Imminent.^[2]

List of Honorees

Liza Minnelli posing with her Ride of Fame decal

*The Ride of Fame began honoring nominees as either Immortal, IT or imminent with Air Supply on October 13, 2012.^[61]
**Denotes Honorees inducted in a city other than New York City, which began with Jeff Conine in Miami^[62]

References