The film follows the recording and reception of Mr. NDour's Grammy-winning album Egypt. The album presents a peaceful side of Islam, fusing secular and spiritual traditions, and the timely screening coincided rather fortuitously with U.S. President Barack Obama’s Cairo call for tolerance.

“I wanted to make a big, beautiful, happy film about Africa that a lot of people would see,” Ms. Vasarhelyi explained. Her first film, A Normal Life, following the lives of Kosovar refugees, won first place at the Tribeca Film Festival when she was just 24.

The only person in a floor-length gown, she seemed charming if a little shy—charmingly shy!

Mr. NDour was initially reluctant to participate in the project. “In the beginning, I was really protecting my privacy, and what interested me was that she tried to have a relationship [with] the members of my family,” he told the Daily Transom. “Everybody. And by the end, the members of my family said, ‘You have to get to know her.’”

Making a documentary about a fellow artist can be tricky, but Ms. Vasarhelyi said she thought the undertaking had been a true collaboration. Of course, Mr. Nichols took a different outlook when he introduced Ms. Vasarhelyi, saying that he was tempted to quote David Mamet: “Film is a collaborative medium; bend over.”

Documentary film seemed to be the unifying theme among the unlikely mix of personalities in attendance. Portrait photographer and documentarian Timothy Greenfield-Sanders (Lou Reed: Rock and Roll Heart) posed gamely while holding up a point-and-shoot. Philippe Petit, whose 1974 walk between the former World Trade Center's twin towers was chronicled in last year’s Man on Wire, hobnobbed in solidarity with a fellow documentary subject.

“Oh, hi, guys and gals,” Dick Cavett greeted the press. “I’ve been told not to talk when my picture’s being taken,” he added, but not before swapping stories with a photographer about Marlon Brando punching people.

The subject of the most pre-arrival speculation was Lou Reed. “Lou Reed’s gotten really into it,” claimed one photographer, wryly joking about the legendary guitarist's typical red carpet antics. The grizzled speaker was a cartoon paparazzo, chomping a toothpick and wearing orange-lensed sunglasses and an earring.

“Really?” replied a colleague. “He used to be terrible.”

Indeed, he still is. She had been taken in by her colleague’s rascally wit. “The only way Lou Reed’ll pose is if Laurie tells him to,” he explained.

This prediction proved accurate. The former Velvet Underground frontman attempted to march, zombie-like, into the theater until wife Laurie Anderson coaxed him to pause. Ms. Anderson’s tremendous dimples may or may not have compensated for Mr. Reed’s stony-faced surliness.

Tolerance, it seems, is all well and good, but it only barely extends to the press.

And on the seventh day, Henry Christensen rested.

The late socialite Brooke Astor's former attorney sat for his sixth (and mercifully final) consecutive day on the witness stand as the trial of Ms. Astor's son, Anthony Marshall, wrapped up its sixth week of testimony on Thursday, June 4.

Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lowey grilled Mr. Christensen on a variety of topics in hopes of better proving her case that Mr. Marshall had taken advantage of his elderly mother's Alzheimer's to swindle her estate to the tune of some $60 million.

Mr. Christensen arrived in court wearing a beige suit and bright blue tie, but his spring-like attire did not match his demeanor.

He raised his head to the ceiling on more than one occasion and often nodded brusquely instead of stating his answer verbally.

A few times, he jolted forward, at one point barking, “I gave fifteen years of devoted, undivided attention to Mrs. Astor, and I was fired, and I resent the suggestion that I was doing anything other than what she wanted.”

Most of his comments seemed tart not belligerent. When the questions again returned to Ms. Astor’s state of mind and her medication, Mr. Christensen said with a smirk, “I already testified [about this] this morning, yesterday, or last week." To which, Ms. Lowey replied, “I’m sorry, we’re almost done with you.”

During a series of questions about Herbert Haseltine animal sculptures and drawings of donkeys and dancing dogs left in her will, Mr. Christensen said bemusedly, “These are the only dancing dogs I’ve heard about.”

Contributing to the collective short fuse of the courtroom, defense attorney Fred Hafetz engaged in a round of whack-a-mole dissent, rising out of his seat every few questions to object to what he called Ms. Lowey’s “entirely improper line of questioning.”

After celebrity defense attorney Thomas Puccio asked Mr. Christensen only one brief question, Judge A. Kirke Bartley told Mr. Puccio dryly, “You broke my heart.”

When the judge finally excused Mr. Christensen, he joked, “I have no further questions, either. You may now resume your life.”

"I cannot come here," Fernanda Motta told the Daily Transom the other night at Le 55 in the meatpacking district, "because I love Italian food."

Despite the inherent danger—every carb-laden bite of pasta a potential career-ender for the slender, four-time Sports Illustrated bikini babe—Ms. Motta and her husband, Roger Rodriguez, remain partners in the renamed, revamped and relaunched restaurant, formerly known as Merkato 55, located at 55 Gansevoort Street. (The couple also owns a stake in two restaurants in her native Brazil, she noted. Any good? "Yeah, they're pretty good, to be honest with you," the none-too-modest model asserted.)

On Thursday night, May 28, the 5-foot-10 blue-eyed brunette celebrated her 28th birthday ("that doesn't mean I'm old!" Ms. Motta insisted after sparkler-wielding servers presented her with a five-tiered cake) during an intimate dinner with friends at the balloon-strewn restaurant.

For the occasion, Ms. Motta wore sparkly Lorraine Schwartz-designed jewelry and a short white dress that slightly resembled a toga. ("What's that?" she asked. "Like a Roman? Oh no! Don't you like it?")

The event doubled as a sort of coming-out party for the eatery's newest chef, Philip Guardione, formerly of the Four Seasons Hotel in Milan.

A fashionable crowd, including fellow models Alessandra Ambrosio, Renata Klem and Julie Henderson, pecked at plates of sole with ratatouille, oyster risotto, and grilled cod with spinach, followed by a light dessert of pistachio cake with rasberry sauce.

Opened with much fanfare in Feburary 2008, the originally African-themed restaurant earned just a one-star review in The New York Times, eventually cut ties with its initial media-darling chef Marcus Samuelssen, and recently re-emerged as a popular boozy brunch spot.

"We have great PR people," Ms. Motta explained of the eatery's newfound daytime popularity. "Also, we have great DJs."

Doesn't she worry that moonlighting in the restaurant industry will ultimately ruin her slim figure?

"I try to come eat, like, maybe not too much," she said. "Otherwise I eat it all!"

Her favorite indulgence?

"The pesto lasagna," she said. "It is thrilling!"

"I love burlesque!" Ms. de Lesseps confessed to the Daily Transom on Wednesday night, May 27, during intermission at former Roxy and Palladium promoter Lee Chappell's risque weekly Foreign Affairs show in the dimly lit lounge at Vikram Chatwal's Night Hotel on West 45th Street.

Sporting a slinky black Michael Kors dress, the 43-year-old co-star of the popular Bravo series the Real Housewives of New York City sat legs crossed, slowly sipping a glass of red wine, while onstage the contortionist and onetime Cirque du Soleil aerialist Ekaterina Sknarina performed a steamy striptease and bawdy hostess Lady Rizo belted out an appropriately schizophrenic cover of the 2006 Gnarls Barkley song "Crazy."

"I've been to the Crazy Horse in Paris," noted Ms. de Lesseps.

Not to be confused with the Crazy Horse in Myrtle Beach, S.C., the Daily Transom pointed out. (Slightly different aesthetic.)

"I haven't been to that one," Ms. de Lesseps said, laughing. "I'm married to a Frenchman, so ..."

In fact, her marriage to the Count Alexandre de Lesseps has been the subject of much speculation in recent weeks, with her rep ultimately confirming rumors of a split.

She vowed to cling to her noble title, nevertheless, she told the Daily Transom. "And the jewelry!" she added, laughing.

"But I love cabaret and I love this kind of music," Ms. de Lesseps said. "I'm a big fan of Mae West. So this takes me back. I actually just wrote a book called Class with the Countess. And I write about Mae West and I write about how I think that she was such a great woman because she knew how to be a woman. You know, how to flirt. I talk about the art of seduction in my book and I talk about Mae West and I pull out a lot of her quotes, which I love. You know, 'It's better to be looked over than overlooked.' I think it's a lost art. I really do."

She said she was enjoying the evening's rather suggestive show while still respecting its tastefulness.

"It's not over the top," she said. "I'm sure it can be," she added, "but so far this show has been pretty low-key. Don't you think? Compared to the Box?"

Had the classy countess been to the Box?

"I've been to the Box a couple of times," she said.

Had she cozied up to Simon Hammerstein, the prurient proprietor of the ribald nightspot on Chrystie Street?

"I know Simon," she said. "But I haven't been there in a while."

What's the most over-the-top craziest routine she had ever seen at the Box?

"They do some pretty crazy stuff," Ms. de Lesseps said, slightly giggling. "It's hard to pick one thing."

She added, "Actually, I haven't been going out that much."

She said she was busy promoting her new book, with an upcoming appearance at Bloomingdale's on June 16, and noted that the Bravo network would soon be airing an entire episode of "lost footage" from the recently concluded reality series.

"They always drag whatever they can out of it," she joked.

The season finale was, what, four hours long?

"We sat there for, like, seven hours, so they had to make two shows out of it," she said.

What was it like being in that room when the claws came out?

"Well, you know what? It's not really played up," Ms. de Lesseps said. "It is what it is. Those are the personalities on the show! Kelly Ripa on Regis & Kelly, the other day, he asked her, 'So, what did you do last night, Kelly?' And she said, 'Why do you always ask me difficult questions?' And then she goes, 'Okay, I remember, I was watching the Real Housewives. I'm a huge fan.' And Regis was like, 'Come on, that's not real. It's scripted!' And Kelly went, 'Ooooh nooo, it is real because I know some of the girls on the show and I know Kelly [Bensimon].' And he says, 'Don't you feel guilty about watching bad television?' And she said, 'If watching the Real Housewives of New York City is wrong, then I don't want to be right,' which I think was really funny."

How long can the show, which just wrapped up its second season, go on?

"That's a good question," she said.

Would it ever get to the point where everyone gets along?

"I don't think so. I think there's always friction between Jill [Zarin] and Ramona [Singer]. And Ramona and I have had our share of friction. And Kelly and Betheny [Frankel]? Oh my God! That could last forever."

Maybe the producers could make them mud-wrestle?

"That's a terrible idea," she said. "I would hate to be in the audience and get dirty," she added, laughing. "Maybe Jello's better."

What's next for the countess? A younger new husband perhaps?

"I'm not a cougar!" she said. "I'm looking more to do a game show."

Like Jeopardy?

"No, no, no! Like The Dating Game," she said. "It would be fun, right? Who better than the countess to do The Dating Game?"

"Our product and what we bring to the table we feel is extremely valuable and we feel like we’re the only ones doing it, even though there are other people in the business, just like there are other basketball players who are incredible," Mr. Satsky told the Daily Transom last week.

The swanky 7,000-square-foot party spot, which had Lauren Conrad of MTV's The Hills helicoptered in for a photo op last summer, opened for its sophomore season over Memorial Day weekend, with fashionable New York Rangers forward Sean Avery reportedly manning the door on Saturday night, May 23.

Despite a sluggish world economic situation that has even the preferred summer playground of the rich and famous feeling the pinch, Mr. Satsky tried to sound optimistic about the uncertain season ahead.

"I feel this summer could be even better than last summer," he boldly predicted. "It could be something very advantageous to us, the recession. A lot of people that go to Europe may not go to Europe this year. So maybe they'll go to the Hamptons and that's where they're going to spend their extra dollars."

What's new at Lily Pond this summer? "Here's what's new—overall, nothing," Mr. Satsky admitted. Just a few tweaks. "The sound is upgraded, the seating is upgraded, the cabanas are upgraded," he said.

Heck, even the cocktail waitresses are upgraded. "My waitresses are hands-down the most beautiful waitress staff in the Hamptons," he boasted. "I handpicked them myself! And they go through a rigorous routine to do so," he added, laughing. "That's the cherry on top! They're fire."

Mr. Satsky, 31, can aggrandize with the best of them, his penchant for promotion proven by a plethora of Page Six mentions, dating back to his days at Stereo, the now-defunct West Chelsea spot he once dubbed the "Yankee Stadium for DJs."

Popular with celebrities, as well as police, Stereo unceremoniously closed in January 2008, with Mr. Satsky and his former business partner at the club, Barry Mullineaux, each going their separate ways.

Yet, its legacy lives on, if only in Mr. Satsky's vision for the future.

"When I opened Stereo in 2005, it was such a different type of venue because our music program, the West Coast style of hip-hop mixed with rock 'n' roll, was not really something that was played in the clubs regularly," Mr. Satsky said.

"The DJ AM–style of deejaying," he went on, referring to the renowned turntablist Adam Goldstein, "was not considered normal for New York City. It was the Mark Ronson era. He was the greatest and the godfather. Mark Ronson would play a record and then he would go into another record and his timing and execution was impeccable. That was the standard in New York City. Then AM came in and did this whole mash-up, scratching situation, and at Stereo, that's what we showcased every second of every night. And then every other venue bit that formula. And now all the venues today still use that formula."

Mr. Satsky said he is aiming to set an entirely new standard, à la Stereo, in September, when his newest Manhattan nightspot opens in the meatpacking district.

"Breaking ground?" asked Elon Kenchington, general manager at the Hotel Gansevoort, where Mr. Satsky was chatting with the Daily Transom one recent afternoon.

For the record, Mr. Satsky declined to get into the specific location or concept, stating only in soaring terms, "It's going to change the direction of nightlife in New York City and bring a real different flavor to the United States."

Another guy trying to change the direction of nightlife in the city is Mr. Satsky's former partner at Stereo, Mr. Mullineaux, who joined up with fellow impresario Jon Bakhshi, a.k.a. Jon B., in launching the eco-friendly themed Greenhouse nightclub in Soho last year with the stated aim of transforming the ever-wasteful hospitality industry.

Mr. Satsky, though, seemed unimpressed by his ex-associate's latest effort.

"I think that it's kind of cookie-cutter," Mr. Satsky said of Greenhouse. "They're not really looking to make a difference," he went on, rattling off a list of Mr. Bakhski's other venues, "Home, Guest House, Mr. West, Greenhouse—it's the same thing."

He added, "I don't know one person that goes there. Not one."

Naturally, Mr. Mullineaux took issue with his estranged contemporary's critique.

"Everybody goes to Greenhouse," countered Mr. Mullineaux. "It's much different than Home or Guest House, contrary to what Mike said. We're one of the only clubs in the city open seven nights a week. We do a variety of everything. Monday nights, we do all rock 'n' roll, live music acts; Friday nights, we do European house music; Tuesdays and Thursdays, we have the hip-hop and rock 'n' roll mash-ups. I bring in a lot of the old Stereo crowd in on those nights. It's a good mix."

Mr. Mullineaux suggested his former friend and colleague was still "bitter" over Stereo's shuttering. (The two haven't spoken in about a year, he said.)

"He had no say in anything," Mr. Mullineaux said, noting that Mr. Satsky was originally brought in as promotional director at Stereo, having no real ownership or equity interest in the actual business. "I had no choice but to side with the investors," Mr. Mullineaux said. "I couldn't side with him and he took it personally."

Mr. Satsky pointed out that he did own trademark rights to the Stereo brand and added that he invested in the defunct club's initial renovation. He also took credit for establishing the venue's celebrity cred. "All the high-profile guests that were there were my friends," he said.

In the aftermath of Stereo's demise, Mr. Satsky has needed to adjust his business model to better suit the way of life in far-flung East Hampton, specifically to make up for what he described as a serious supermodel gap. "We're not living in New York City, where, in a 10-block radius, there are, say, 30 supermodels," he noted. "A lot of that background beauty is not fully available in East Hampton. So, you know, we do what we can to bring in our friends from New York City."

It has been challenging, to say the least.

"Every day at Lily Pond is a miracle," Mr. Satsky told the Daily Transom. "Every one of my friends in the business urged me, 'Do not do this. Nobody's in East Hampton. You have no one to choose from. Everyone's in the south. You only have families in the east. You have some big hitters in the east, but nothing that's going to make enough camaraderie to make it successful.' I really went out on a limb to do something in East Hampton. The space, for eight years, has been tried and failed, tried and failed. We gave it our all and every day is a miracle."

But he still knows how to tie one on.

"How do you say 'cheers' in the Jewish language?" the flashy forward asked guests at the opening of his new Tribeca bar and restaurant Warren 77 on Friday, May 15.

"L'chaim!" the crowd replied.

"There ya go," said Mr. Avery, who further encouraged attendees to "just keep buying drinks because I didn't open a fucking bar for nothing."

Pro hockey's preeminent bad boy gave props to his partners, Chris Miller and Matt Abramcyk, for their four months of work in building out the space. Mr. Abramcyk told the Daily Transom the place was still covered with sawdust only hours before the grand opening.

Mr. Avery may turn out to be a more hands-on style of operator than most celebrity restaurateurs. Early in the evening, when his partners complained about the level of lighting, he promptly hopped up onto a wobbly stool and unscrewed sizzling bulbs with his bare fingers.

Mr. Avery and his partners had traveled to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto for inspiration in designing the venue.

Hung with framed photos of past Rangers greats and a brightly illuminated goalie mask greeting visitors at the entrance on Warren Street, the new watering hole might quickly be categorized as a sports bar. But that's a bit of a misnomer, according to Mr. Miller; it's "a bar steeped in athleticism and the history of New York," he told the Daily Transom.

Five flatscreen TVs lining the walls are intermittingly hidden behind retractable screens to avoid the sort of flickering "sports soup" you find at most venues of that ilk, he added.

It's the type of place you'd expect to see scruffy brutes quaffing pints of Molson Canadian while their waifish girlfriends gingerly sip flutes of sancerre.

"I don't get treated this nice at most places," said New York Post hockey writer Larry Brooks, whom Mr. Avery greeted with a clink of glasses and some good-humored teasing.

"You don't dress this nice at work," the former Vogue intern told the typically slovenly sportswriter, who showed up in a tucked-in button-up shirt and slacks.

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundquist, dressed in a white T-shirt and fedora, opened the party with a set of cover songs on his acoustic guitar and later huddled with former teammate Brendan Shanahan and Rangers fan John McEnroe at a reserved booth in the front. Another former teammate of Mr. Avery's, Brad Richards, made the trip from Dallas for the festivities.

Disc jockey and impresario Paul Sevigny, meanwhile, drank from a miniature Stanley Cup at the bar. "Tasted better in '94," he told the Daily Transom, referring to the Rangers' last championship. (Asked what can be done to reopen the still-shuttered Beatrice Inn, which he co-owns with Mr. Abramcyk, Mr. Sevigny said, "Pray a lot.")

Nearby, nightlife vet Amy Sacco mingled among the many athletes.

"I met Sean Avery and Brendan Shanahan at the Rose Bar two years ago," Ms. Sacco told the Daily Transom. "I looked to my right at these two handsome men I’ve never seen with a bunch a friends. I figured one, at least, is married and the other’s gay, or whatever," she joked. "And they said, ‘Would you like to come with us to this place called Bungalow 8?’ I was like, ‘Wow. Okay!’"(Ms. Sacco is Bungalow's owner.) "We've been friends ever since. I took them to the Met ball that year. They taught me about hockey."

Now a die-hard puckhead, Ms. Sacco didn't hesistate to offer her post-season analysis of what went wrong with the Rangers.

"They should never have not re-signed Shanahan," she said. "Biggest mistake of their lives."

Bids on the city's top-grossing eatery are due on Monday, May 18, but Mr. Meyer, an early favorite for the famous space, has decided to withdraw his name from the competition.

According to a statement from Mr. Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group:

“After careful consideration, we have elected not to submit a bid for the restaurant to succeed Tavern on the Green. As passionate New Yorkers, we were excited and tempted by the opportunity to envision how to transform such a magnificent place into a new institution for our city to cherish. After a thorough review of the [city's Request for Proposals], we ultimately concluded that the overall business opportunity unfortunately did not make sense for us at this time.

We remain excited to follow the developments as the City considers the next chapter of such a historic location.”

Mr. Meyer, whose name inevitably comes up anytime a high-profile restaurant space becomes available, had shown some initial interest in the lucrative location back in March, sending representatives to a meeting of potential candidates for the 25,000-square-foot venue.

But that was before he was announced as the newest operator at Ian Schrager's posh Gramercy Park Hotel. Mr. Meyer also recently took on the hefty task of concessionaire at the New York Mets' new Citi Field stadium in Willet's Point.

The city's current contract with the late LeRoy's family expires at the end of the year. The family has vowed to outbid all rivals for the space.

Smith & Wollensky founder Alan Stillman, Boathouse owner Dean Poll and Capitale operator Seth Greenberg have also expressed interest.

"Someone, somehow told Hugh Jackman that I was doing the food for Graydon’s Vanity Fair Oscar Party," Mr. DeLucie told the Daily Transom. "So I walk over to his table and Hugh Jackman says, ‘Hey, I hear we both have Oscar gigs.'"

The affable chef was dumbfounded. "Is there a bigger star than Hugh Jackman right now?"

On Thursday evening, May 14, the 47-year-old Long Island native, dressed comfortably in jeans, a blue blazer, and gray hoodie, lounged on a semi-circular yellow sofa, under an imposing Christophe Pillet-designed chandelier of hand-blown glass raindrops, signing copies of his new book, The Hunger: A Story of Food, Desire, Ambition, and posing for photos with a bevy of beautiful young models, at French designer Catherine Malandrino's posh boutique at 652 Hudson Street.

"This is the genius of Ecco," he said, referring to the Harper Collins imprint that published his memoir, "and their special events marketing division. They do parties in non-conventional places."

Throughout the evening, a fashionable crowd mingled around the Patron table, lining up for margaritas, martinis and a mixed vodka drink called the "grape ape," while regular customers continued to shop and push their way past partiers into the fitting rooms.

"I've been a friend of John's and a fan of his cuisine," explained the shop's proprietor and occasional Project Runway guest judge, Ms. Malandrino. "I was one of the first guests at the Waverly...I think I've become addicted." (She's apparently a big fan of the grilled fish--particularly the non-decapitated version. "I like the visual of the head on it," she said. "It's very French.")

Earlier in the day, Mr. DeLucie appeared on NBC's Today show, giving weatherman Al Roker a tutorial on how to make a frittata. Mr. Roker asked him to explain the Waverly's popularity. Mr. DeLucie offered two reasons--the food is good, and the proprietor, Mr. Carter, is famous.

The Daily Transom wanted to know: is the food at Waverly really that good?

New York Times critic Frank Bruni awarded the flashy venue only a single star.

"I think the food is very accessible," Mr. DeLucie said. "You go there, the menu says roast chicken and you get a great roast chicken. It delivers on its promise. I think that’s why it’s so popular."

Much of the initial buzz about the Waverly surrounded its cost-prohibitive macaroni and cheese with truffles, advertised at an astounding $55 a pop.

Mr. DeLucie pointed out that's actually just the base price, depending on the cost of its highly sought-after seasonal ingredient. "When the truffles are $3,000, it goes up to $95," he noted. (Right now is the cheapest time to order, he added.)

"What people don’t realize is, if you go to Da Silvano and order pasta with butter and truffles on top, it’s $125," Mr. DeLucie said. "So, it’s a bargain at the Waverly!"

Mr. DeLucie has been working on his book for almost five years, beginning when he was a cook at La Bottega at the Maritime Hotel. (Maritime owners Sean MacPherson and Eric Goode are also Mr. Carter's partners in the Waverly.) "It wasn’t a Waverly book on its inception--it became a Waverly book," he said, laughing.

"I was very committed to making the book funny," Mr. DeLucie noted. No easy task. "Which is why I needed expertise," he said. So he turned to longtime pal and writer Ken Carlton. "He’s a good friend of mine--much funnier than me," Mr. DeLucie said. "I would toil over my Apple at Morandi every day and he would structure it for me. And we’d fight. I would say, 'It’s an and!’ And he’d say, 'No, man, it’s an or!'"

Mr. DeLucie intended the book to be "aspirational," he said. "Because I was a corporate drone. I was a headhunter for the insurance industries. Awful! I did it for four years until I was 30. Eventually I said, 'I can’t do this one more day. I can’t put on a suit and I can’t shave one more day.' And I had this Italian background. I was cooking at home as a hobby. I decided I’d take this little class at the New School. And I found out I have the aptitude for cooking. I got my first job at Dean & Deluca, slicing prosciutto. So I hope someone will read it and say, 'You know, there’s something I want to do and if this idiot can do it, I can too.'"

For the moment, Mr. DeLucie said he was happy to be out of the kitchen and in "full book tour mode," noting, "I can drink tonight, although my Diet Coke is mocking me right now."

Joey Ramone, the late, lanky, leather-clad lead singer of the seminal New York punk rock band the Ramones, finally got his just deserts on Thursday afternoon, May 14, at a brief ceremony at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Annex in Soho.

"This is a day of kind of not necessarily new beginnings, but a day to really do what we can to right a wrong," said Joel Peresman, president of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation, when a piece of the statue he was holding suddenly came loose and hit the floor with a big clang.

Laughter ensued.

It has been a comedy of errors ever since the Cleveland-based shrine of modern music legends first inducted the Ramones seven years ago, one year after its gangly frontman's death from lymphoma in 2001.

The original award presentation and acceptance for the band's lead singer was "mistakenly omitted from the programme's schedule," according to the singer's official Web site. "As a result, the statue meant for Joey ended up being abandoned at the podium."

More than half a decade later, Mr. Peresman's foundation was trying to set things right.

"Now, I want to introduce Dan Fields, the [Ramones'] first manager, to really come up and say some things about his recollections," Mr. Peresman continued, "and hopefully not break this thing like I did."

Mr. Fields, for his part, attempted to clear up some of the rumors and controversy that resulted from the initial snub.

"There was a blog from a bright and distinguished person this week going out, referring to this as making up for Joey's non-induction—Joey was inducted into the hall of fame," Mr. Fields pointed out. "I worked on those dinners for many years before that one, to which I wasn't invited. But, nevertheless, it said 'non-induction,' so I tried to correct that."

He continued, "I then heard from a reliable source—I'm sorry for jumping into this well of poison—that [guitarist] Johnny Ramone refused to allow any representative of Joey's up on stage. This went out on the Internet. All I could do, knowing a little bit more about it, was to clear the air. It really was a procedural error on the part of the staff of the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame dinner."

He added, "This is what they got when they lost me."

Mr. Fields described the late Joey Ramone as "by far, the most ironic and funniest" of the Ramones, adding, "I think he would have enjoyed the mistake, why it got fucked up, why we're here. I think he's chortling at this minute."

Mr. Fields further commented that the setting of Thursday's event was quite appropriate: "We're on Mercer Street, and to pay credit where it's due, this is the street where the New York Dolls performed where the Ramones first saw them, and said, 'These guys suck! They can't play! Let's start a band'—a mantra that brought us into the punk rock era."

Tommy Ramone, the group's original drummer and sole surviving member, later corrected him: "The Ramones loved the New York Dolls—I don't want anybody to get the wrong impression. In fact, we were crazy about the New York Dolls."

Accepting the long-overdue award, Joey Ramone's brother, Mickey Leigh, dressed in a black blazer and black T-shirt emblazoned with his late brother's visage, tried to put a positive spin on the goof. "If everything went down right at the Waldorf-Astoria, it would have been a beautiful thing. But I never knew what rock and roll had to do with the Waldorf-Astoria to begin with. This seems to be much more fitting."

Mr. Leigh continued, "Joey loved New York City but he loved downtown especially, so having this presentation below 14th Street is something that could not have happened at the Waldorf-Astoria. Having this presentation be a few blocks away from a street named in his honor couldn't have happened at the Waldorf-Astoria. And, because the ticket prices were $2,500 a pop, having all his friends and family here, instead of a bunch of record company executives, is something that could not have happened at the Waldorf-Astoria."

Richard "Handsome Dick" Manitoba, former singer of the punk group the Dictators, described the rock hall's mistake as "ridiculous. The lead singer's the most important guy in the band!"

Legs McNeil, co-author of the forthcoming book I Slept with Joey Ramone: A Family Memoir, described the late singer as "a huge mess" who was once diagnosed with mental illness. "What this guy does with his life is so heroic," Mr. McNeil said. "He really gave us all hope that we could all, you know, climb out of our shit and, you know, do it."

Mr. McNeil said the late Ramones singer would be "thrilled" with his induction, adding, however, "I also know how upset he'd be with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for not having Alice Cooper in and the Stooges and Kiss and a lot of other people because Joey stood up for rock and roll."

Mr. Ramone, born Jeffrey Ross Hyman in Queens in 1951, would have turned 58 on Tuesday, May 19. Mr. Manitoba will join former MTV talking head Matt Pinfield, among others, at a tribute concert that night in Mr. Ramone's honor at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza.