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	49
Director	David W. Chien
Website	Official website

The Ride of Fame is a continuing series of mobile monuments in New York City honoring public figures for being exemplary “New Yorkers” and representing the city in a positive light over the course of their lives. Ride of Fame alumni have also been bestowed with this honor simply for being the top celebrity in their respective fields of expertise. Each public figure honored by the Ride of Fame is presented with a personalized decal permanently applied to the front of a red double decker bus as a time capsule in New York City. In 2012, inductees were also presented with a permanent seat decal on the top of the double decker bus in addition to the front decal. The honorees write a special personal message on these seats to share the moment with all the visitors of New York City.^[1][2]

History

Rachael Ray posing with her Ride of Fame decal

The Ride of Fame’s inaugural honoree was Emmy Award winner and bestselling author Rachael Ray in 2010. A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place in front of Ray’s studio before she led a group of 50 fans on a tour atop her new bus that was dedicated in her honor.^[3] Though New York City was Gray Line Worldwide’s second licensed city around the world, the first being in Washington, D.C. in 1910, Gray Line Worldwide chose New York City as the site to celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2010.

Since Rachael Ray, monthly and bi-monthly ceremonies have taken place to present public figures with a decal for their own double-decker bus. Each public figure has had a ribbon cutting ceremony, most of which took 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 the first to be presented with a pair of honorary seats on the top deck of the bus along with a decal on the front. Air Supply also became the first to be inducted as an Immortal honoree; part of the IIi categorization in which each nominee is inducted as either Immortal, IT or imminent .^[2]

On April 29th, 2014, Ride of Fame expanded outside of New York City. Jeff Conine of the Miami Marlins was the first recipient of a Ride of Fame honors in Miami.^[4] Since then, the Ride of Fame has honored recipients in Washington, D.C., with plans to be around the world, in cities with double-decker bus service.^[5]

List of honorees

Liza Minnelli posing with her Ride of Fame decal

Honoree	Date of ROF Induction	IIi Classification*
Rachael Ray[6]	May 4, 2010	--
Donald Trump[7]	June 8, 2010	--
Whoopi Goldberg[8]	July 26, 2010	--
Henrik Lundqvist[9][10]	August 31, 2010	--
Reggie Jackson[11]	October 18, 2010	--
Richard Dreyfuss[12]	November 5, 2010	--
Cyndi Lauper[13]	January 27, 2011	--
Liza Minnelli[14][15]	March 8, 2011	--
Marc Anthony[16]	September 8, 2011	--
Roger Maris[17]	September 24, 2011	--
Kenneth Cole[18]	November 18, 2011	--
Wheel of Fortune[19]	May 14, 2012	--
Bernadette Peters & Mary Tyler Moore[20][21][22]	August 21, 2012	--
Joe Namath[23]	September 12, 2012	--
Walt Frazier[24][25][26][27]	September 19, 2012	--
Vanessa Williams[28][29][30]	September 27, 2012	--
Air Supply[31][32]	October 13, 2012	Immortal
Dionne Warwick[33][34]	November 12, 2012	Immortal
Joan Rivers & Melissa Rivers[35][36]	March 1, 2013	Immortal
David Wright[37][38]	April 3, 2013	IT
LL Cool J[39][40]	May 13, 2013	Immortal
The Mowgli's[41][42]	July 9, 2013	imminent
Erin Brady[43][44]	August 5, 2013	imminent
Mariano Rivera[45][46]	September 20, 2013	IT
Carol Alt[47][48]	October 7, 2013	Immortal
Susan Lucci[49][50]	November 19, 2013	Immortal
The Minions of Despicable Me 2[51][52]	November 25, 2013	IT
Patrick Stewart[53][54]	December 4, 2013	Immortal
Carly Rae Jepsen[55][56]	February 25, 2014	IT
Tracey Bregman[57][58]	April 7, 2014	Immortal
Jeff Conine**[59]	April 29, 2014	Immortal
Fifth Harmony[60][61]	July 11, 2014	imminent
Joe Theismann**[62]	September 5, 2014	Immortal
Big & Rich[63]	September 26, 2014	Immortal
Tony Danza[64]	December 1, 2014	Immortal
Alex Ovechkin**[65]	April 7, 2015	IT
Paul Shaffer[66]	May 5, 2015	Immortal
Jeff Gordon[67]	June 30, 2015	Immortal
David Copperfield[68]	September 11, 2015	Immortal
Andrea Pirlo[69]	September 22, 2015	Immortal
David Villa[70]	September 22, 2015	Immortal
Frank Lampard[71]	September 22, 2015	Immortal
John Wall**[72]	October 26, 2015	IT
George Takei[73]	December 10, 2015	Immortal
Darrelle Revis[74]	December 29, 2015	IT
Kendall Schmidt[75]	January 19, 2016	IT
Sheldon Harnick[76]	May 11, 2016	Immortal
Lang Lang[77]	September 20, 2016	IT
Jake Miller[78]	October 11, 2016	imminent

*The Ride of Fame began honoring nominees as either Immortal, IT or imminent with Air Supply on October 13, 2012.^[79]
**Denotes Honorees inducted in a city other than New York City, which began with Jeff Conine in Miami^[80]

References

1. Ride of Fame
2. Air Supply Honored By Gray Line New York As Part of ‘Ride of Fame’ Campaign - October 20, 2012
3. Stars, Stars And More Stars Here, There And Everywhere! - May 5, 2010
4. Mr. Marlin receives mobile enshrinement - April 29th, 2014
5. A fascinated Alex Ovechkin experiments with Periscope - April 8, 2015
6. Stars, Stars And More Stars Here, There And Everywhere! - May 5, 2010
7. Donald Trump Honored In Gray Line New York's Ride Of Fame Campaign - June 8, 2010
8. Whoopi Goldberg Honored In Gray Line New York's Ride Of Fame - July 30, 2010
9. Lundqvist Honored with 'Ride of Fame' Bus Video - August 31, 2010 Archived June 11, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
10. Henrik Lundqvist Honored In Gray Line New York's Ride of Fame - October 2, 2010
11. Reggie Jackson attends Gray Line New Yorks Ride of Fame ribbon cutting - October 18, 2010
12. Photo Flash: Ride of Fame Honors Richard Dreyfuss - November 5, 2010
13. Cyndi Lauper is the newest Ride of Fame member to Gray Line New York - February 2, 2011
14. Photo Coverage: Gray Line's 'Ride Of Fame' Campaign Honors Liza Minnelli - March 9 2011
15. Liza Minnelli to Be Gray Line New York Ride of Fame Dedicatee - March 2, 2011
16. Marc Anthony Honored By Gray Line New York's "Ride Of Fame" - September 8, 2011
17. Maris/Mantle ’61 tribute moved to Saturday - September 23, 2011
18. Fashion Designer Kenneth Cole Is Honored By Gray Line New York - November 29, 2011
19. Wheel of Fortune - May 23, 2012
20. Mary Tyler Moore and Bernadette Peters Honored with Ride of Fame Today - August 21, 2012
21. PHOTO CALL: Bernadette Peters and Mary Tyler Moore Honored in NYC - August 21, 2012
22. PHOTO FLASH: Bernadette Peters Inducted Into Gray Line New York's Ride of Fame - August 21, 2012
23. Gray Line New York Honors Joe Namath - September 12, 2012
24. After Lending His Style to a Bus, Frazier Offers His Opinion on the Knicks - September 19, 2012
25. Kickin' it with a (former) Knick: Walt Frazier - September 19, 2012
26. SLAM ONLINE | » Walt Frazier Joins the Ride of Fame - September 20, 2012
27. Photos of Kate Moss, Carly Rae Jepsen, Kourtney Kardashian and many more celebs - September 19, 2012
28. Vanessa Williams: Gray Line New York's Ride of Fame Inductee - September 28, 2012
29. Vanessa Williams Inducted into Gray Line New York Ride of Fame - Photo Flash - Sep 27, 2012
30. Vanessa Williams on '666 Park Avenue': 'It's a World Where Unfortunate Things Happen a Lot' - September 28, 2012
31. Gray Line New York Ride Of Fame Honors Air Supply - October 13, 2012
32. Photo Flash: Air Supply's Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock Honored with 'Ride of Fame' - October 20, 2012
33. Gray Line New York inducts Dionne Warwick into its Ride of Fame - November 13, 2012
34. Photo Flash: Dionne Warwick Celebrates New Album with Gray Line New York 'Ride of Fame' - November 13, 2012
35. Joan and Melissa Rivers Debut Their Glamorous Ride of Fame in NYC - March 1, 2013
36. Gray Line New York Honors WE TV Stars Joan & Melissa Rivers - March 1, 2013
37. Mets’ David Wright Talks Humility, Life Off The Field And Crying In Baseball - April 3, 2013
38. David Wright has his own bus now - April 3, 2013
39. LL Cool J extends his reach during Gray Line New York's "Ride Of Fame" induction ceremony, which honored the native New Yorker Monday at Manhattan's Pier 78 - May 14, 2013
40. Gray Line New York's "Ride Of Fame" Induction Ceremony Honoring LL Cool J - May 13, 2013
41. The Mowgli's Take Fans on a Double Decker Bus Trek Through NYC: Live Report - July 10, 2013
42. CitySights NY's Ride Of Fame Imminent Ride With The Mowgli's - July 9, 2013
43. Miss USA 2013 Erin Brady Talks Celebrity Crush, Being A Role Model, And More After Being Inducted Into Ride Of Fame - August 6, 2013
44. Miss USA 2013 Erin Brady takes a 'Ride Of Fame' in New York - August 5, 2013
45. Gray Line Tours unveils Mo bus - September 20, 2013
46. Mariano Rivera is now immortalized on an NYC mobile monument - September 20, 2013
47. Fox News' Carol Alt Receives NYC Honor - October 7, 2013
48. 'I'm Happy I'm Not A Model Anymore’: Supermodel And New Fox News Star Carol Alt Gets Candid - October 7, 2013
49. Emmy award winning actress Susan Lucci is getting her own permanent seat on the top deck of a Gray Line bus in New York City to celebrate her role as Erica Kane on All My Children for more than 40 years - November 15, 2013
50. Susan Lucci Talks Legacy Acting and Life - November 19, 2013
51. Minions take over Manhattan - November 26, 2013
52. The Minions got their own bus on the @rideoffame at the ribbon cutting ceremony in NYC #MinionROF #MinionNation - November 25, 2013
53. Star Trek's Patrick Stewart Bus - December 5, 2013
54. Patrick Stewart Honored With Broadway-Themed Tour Bus - December 4, 2013
55. Carly Rae Jepsen Talks Broadway, ‘Call Me Maybe’ And Pal Justin Bieber - February 26, 2014
56. Cinderella's Carly Rae Jepsen Joins the Hallowed Ride of Fame - February 26, 2014
57. Tracey E. Bregman To Be Honored by Ride of Fame - April 2, 2014
58. Tracey Bregman Inducted Into Ride of Fame - April 7, 2014
59. Mr. Marlin receives mobile enshrinement - April 29th, 2014
60. Fifth Harmony Exclusive NYC Ride Of Fame Interview - July 12, 2014
61. Fifth Harmony Honored by Ride of Fame - July 11, 2014
62. Ride Of Fame With Joe Theismann - September 5, 2014
63. LOVVVVE this double decker bus!!! thank you @RideofFame for honoring us today!! #NYC #Gravity #BigandRichROF - September 26, 2014
64. Tony Danza Dedicates Doubledecker Bus in NYC - December 1, 2014
65. A fascinated Alex Ovechkin experiments with Periscope - April 8, 2015
66. Ride Of Fame Honors Paul Shaffer - May 5, 2015
67. Ride Of Fame Immortal Honoree Ceremony - Jeff Gordon - June 30, 2015
68. Ride Of Fame Immortal Honoree Ceremony - David Copperfield Ride Of Fame Induction Ceremony - September 11, 2015
69. Frank Lampard finally finding form, scoring touch with NYCFC - September 23, 2015
70. Frank Lampard finally finding form, scoring touch with NYCFC - September 23, 2015
71. Frank Lampard finally finding form, scoring touch with NYCFC - September 23, 2015
79. RIDE OF FAME TO HONOR AIR SUPPLY - October 2, 2012
80. We’re Going to Miami to Honor Jeff Conine! - April 23, 2014

Coordinates: 40°45′14″N 73°59′11″W / 40.753947°N 73.986471°W