NEW YORK () - New York City is hoping an annex of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame porta this year will further tourism, as well as commemorate the artists and music venues that formed the city's rock history.
The annex to Cleveland-based Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is due to open in the art-and-fashion district of SoHo in November, and will characteristic such memorabilia as Bruce Springsteen's first car, a 1957 Chevy Convertible.
It will besides house an original phone booth from the business district music golf-club CBGB where Patti Smith and Ramones played, and have interactive maps highlight venues like Studio 54 and The Hotel Chelsea.
"There very isn't a more fitting spot for this museum than New York, the home town of Hall of Famers like the Velvet Underground, Paul Simon, and Blondie," New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told reporters on Wednesday.
The museum could help advance tourism to the metropolis, creating jobs in hotels, restaurants and theaters, and cushioning the impact of downturns on Wall Street, Bloomberg said.
A record 46 million visited New York in 2007, and the city's tourism organization NYC & Company is expecting around 47.7 meg this year, despite a slowing economic system.
Singer-songwriter and New York-native Billy Joel, also at the news conference, gave his endorsement.
"I started playing in clubs in New York City at the Gaslight Cafe, The Bitter End, Max's Kansas City, and then had the good fortune to go on and act the former venues in this city," he aforementioned, citing Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden and big sports stadiums.
"New York gave me my words and my music, and rock and wheel gave me a place for that music to live."
(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)
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