Exploring ‘Queer Money Project’ and Local LGBTQ+-owned Businesses
Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo have a long and proud history serving, not only as a welcoming home to the LGBTQ+ community, but to businesses which cater to or are owned and operated by them. This includes everything from the city’s oldest gay bar (Julius’ — still going strong) to the worlds first gay bookstore (the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop — sadly no longer with us), to countless restaurants, dry cleaners, markets, hardware stores, and everything you could imagine in between.
To celebrate Pride this year, we’re guiding you on an exploration of today’s LGBTQ+-owned businesses led by the Queer Money Project — to celebrate both the contributions of the LGBTQ+ community in our neighborhoods, and to support small businesses (both of which we do 24/7, 365-days-a-year, but what better time than now?). And we’re doing it in an exciting new way that allows you to participate in Village Preservation programming on your own time. Grab a friend and visit these sites that we’ll reveal on Instagram throughout NYC Pride Weekend.
Collaborting with Queer Money Project
Queer Money Project is a community mapping project of LGBTQ+-owned businesses and organizations currently focused in New York City, curated by Victoria Rey (she/her). The goal of Queer Money Project is to serve as a resource and guide that makes finding these businesses, services, and providers accessible for members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community and their allies. This program is designed to highlight the work of QMP in our neighborhoods as well as provide the public with ways to support LGBTQIA2S+ businesses and businesss owners. The Queer Money Project is a completely free resource. It was born out of its founder Victoria’s experience of life transition and years of making personal lists of queer-owned businesses. Eventually, QMP would like to expand outside of NYC and provide guides everywhere from big cities to small towns. Feel free to submit a LGBTQ+-owned business or reach out with any questions about the project to hello@queermoneyproject.com.
Victoria identifies as a queer storyteller and artist. She was raised in Atlanta and Appalachia, but currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. She studied Music Composition at Georgia State University and served two AmeriCorps terms in Providence, RI. Before developing Queer Money Project, Victoria’s work focused on teaching advocacy and change-making through documentary filmmaking to young adults. Outside of Queer Money Project, you can also find her hosting freeform radio on Radio Free Brooklyn, through her newsletter my glass house, or on the internet as @sting_rey and @queermoneyproject.
Pride Programming: Kick off on June 23
In celebration of LGBTQIA2S+ Pride this year, Village Preservation is partnering with Victoria and the Queer Money Project to curate and share a social media tour of LGBTQ+-owned businesses in Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo.
What is a social media tour?
Beginning Thursday, June 23, Village Preservation and Queer Money Project will co-post recommended businesses and sites of interest to visit as a part of NYC Pride Weekend 2022. Over the course of the weekend, we’ll be posting a combination of LGBTQ+ owned local business that you can support along with important and interesting LGBTQIA2S+ sites that help uncover the history and culture of this community in our neighborhoods.
Follow us and Queer Money Project on instagram to gain access to these tips and plan your own pride weekend in support of local LGBTQ+ owned small business. We’ll co-post these recommendations on intagram which will give you the important information you need to support local business while celebrating the rich contributions of the LGBTQIA2S+ community to our neighborhoods.
Hearing directly from Victoria
To kick off this exciting new kind of programming at Village Preservation, join Hew Evans (they/them) our Administration & Programs Assistant and Leeanne G-Bowley (she/her), our Director of Programming, as they are joined by Victoria Rey in conversation. We’ll hold a Zoom event where you will learn more about Queer Money Project, how to participate in this particular program, and listen to Hew and Leeanne interview Victoria about her work and inspiration. To register for this exciting zoom webinar, visit our events page and register here. Those who register will also get alerts when new tours post, as well as access to this exclusive interview on Thursday, June 23rd at noon.
Learn more about our neighborhoods’ rich LGBTQ+ history HERE. Learn more about supporting local small businesses HERE. And check out all our programs and events HERE.