Drew Bushong is the employee that found the awning, sometime around 2004, which he took home.

"I worked there for six years as the manager," Bushong told me, "The story's pretty uneventful. Went to Mars Bar after a long Monday night audition of 6-7 forgettable bands... and on way back to my motorcycle parked out front of club, I saw the box [with the awning] that had been sitting above my desk for five months on the street next to the trash bags. Put it on back of my bike and drove home... Thought one day maybe I'd open a home bar with it. It's pretty dirty and dingy." Also, Bushong believes there may be four or five awnings, not just the three we have been tracking down.

"I think four or even five total," he told me. "I have the one that was around for Joey [Ramone]'s memorial," circa 2001. As to where those other ones are, if they exist, Bushong told me there's a rumor that "Spike Lee had one at some point, [and] another rumor is that Freddy Madball stole the left corner of the 4th awning."

Read More: A History of the CBGB Awnings

Little Josh Lozano, Hilly and Louise's old assistant, believes there were four awnings, and that Spike Lee actually put a replica up (perhaps during filming Summer of Sam in the late '90s). He told me, "I started there in '97 and the one up there had been there for a long time. That's the one that I was most familiar with in pictures. At some point I remember Hilly replacing the second one... I'm not sure if it was because Spike Lee gave him the replica he made... I think the Spike one was up for a little bit. I know the one that was up during the closing years was only up there for a brief period. Maybe two years or less. It was a softer material than the previous ones."

Along with Staley and Rafferty, Bushong also believes JFA has that original awning, telling me, "I heard there's a pic of them under it, in their back yard and barbecuing." Until they decide to confirm and send me a photo of the original awning, Bushong has come through in a big way with his piece of Old Bowery history.