Gay activists alliance - Village Preservation

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2014 Year In Review: GVSHP Programs

…elected officials, neighbors, activists, and community organizations in an important discussion about the status of former P.S. 64 at 605 East 9th Street and organize to return the building to…

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Village Preservation Oral History: LGBT Activist Richard Wandel

…former President of the Gay Activists’ Alliance (GAA) in New York, and the founding archivist at the LGBT Community Center at 208 West 13th Street. Richard was born in 1946…

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Celebrating PFLAG: 50 Years of Creating a Caring, Just, and Affirming World

…annual LGBTQ+ Pride March) with her son, gay activist Morty Manford, holding a sign which said “Parents of Gays: Unite in Support of Our Children.” We are celebrating this anniversary…

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The Origins of Greenwich Village Historic District Street Names: Part 1

…to have streets named for both his first and last names. 1793-94 Gilbert Stuart portrait of Horatio Gates Gay Street We cannot conclusively determine the origin of Gay Street. Most…

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LGBTQ+ Pride Programs Roundup

…the development of gay theater, Cino served as a place of support for gay playwrights during a time when depicting LGBT experiences on stage was illegal. Watch here! Stories that…

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The Mob and the Roots of the Stonewall Uprising

…could be shut down for having gay employees or serving gay patrons. As the gay community blossomed in New York City in the 1960s, they had few places to gather…

Campaign Update

September 2023 Programs: The 2nd Birthplace of Hip-Hop Tour, “This Must Be the Place” Book Talk, and More

…published three anthologies, Other Countries: Black Gay Voices (1988), Sojourner: Black Gay Voices in the Age of AIDS (1993), and Voices Rising: Celebrating 20 years of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and…

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A First for Recognizing LGBT History in the South Village

…center of gay life shifted somewhat to MacDougal, West 3rd and West 4th Streets, with a swath of lesbian and gay-oriented establishments including “Eve’s Tearoom” at 129 MacDougal Street, The…

Campaign Update

September 2023 Programs: The 2nd Birthplace of Hip-Hop Tour, Native New Yorkers Walking Tour, and More

…early 1990s he has been a member of the Other Countries, a New York City-based Black gay men’s writing collective that has published three anthologies, Other Countries: Black Gay Voices…

Campaign Update

After Nine-Year Campaign, Julius’ Bar Landmarking Proposal to Finally Get Hearing November 15

…Bar, for individual landmark designation. Village Preservation first proposed the building for landmark designation along with the Stonewall Inn, the LGBT Community Center, and the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) Firehouse;…

Campaign Update

Julius’ Bar Landmark Hearing Tuesday, Nov. 15 — Support This and Other Needed Landmark Designations

…Bar, for individual landmark designation. Village Preservation first proposed the building for landmark designation along with the Stonewall Inn, the LGBT Community Center, and the Gay Activists Alliance (GAA) Firehouse…

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LGBTQ History

…landmark in 2015. We proposed and secured landmark designation for the Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse and the LGBT Community Services Center, and have fought for recognition of other historic sites…

Campaign Update

After Four Year Campaign by Village Preservation, City Agrees to Landmark LGBT Historic Sites

…Community Services Center at 208 West 13th Street, and the former Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse at 99 Wooster Street. In 2014, Village Preservation proposed these sites along with the Stonewall Inn for landmark…

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Mapping Civil Rights and Social Justice — A Year Later

…to the LGBT civil rights movement, like Stonewall, Julius’ Bar, or the Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse, or sites in the South and East Village connected to African-American, immigrant, and social…

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‘People in Trouble’: A Case Study of the AIDS Crisis in Historical Memory

…13th Street; “Reality was far more dramatic than fiction,” wrote Schulman. ACT UP held an action involving 7,000 people at Manhattan’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, disrupting mass. The activists distributed condoms…

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Eating Fire: A Brief History of the Lesbian Avengers in NYC

…the Queer arts and activist scene of the East Village. About the Lesbian Avengers In Spring 1992, New York activists Ana Simo, Maxine Wolfe, Sarah Schulman, Anne-Christine d’Adesky, Marie Honan…

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Before Stonewall: The “Sip In” at Julius’

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Remembering the HIV/AIDS Crisis

…in a Gay Environment) and the Metropolitan Community Church (an LGBT congregation). In 1983, Caring Community defaulted on its lease, and the LGBT-focused sublets, along with local gay and AIDS activists, saw…

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African American, Feminist, & LGBTQ Solidarity at the Women’s House of Detention

…to Daughters of Bilitis member Arcus Flynn‘s account of the riots, in which she recalls that the imprisoned women chanted “Gay power! Gay power!” from the House of Detention. According…

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A Peek Back at the Village’s LGBT History

…on April 21, 1966, where members of New York’s Mattachine Society, a group of homosexual activists, pushed the limits at this still active gay bar. And in 2009, GVSHP featured…

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Terrance McNally Offers Wonderful Window Into The Rich History #SouthOfUnionSquare

…gay men, from the sexual Revolution. If the 1970s to the AIDS Crisis of the 1980s and 90s to the successful battles for gay marriage and LGBTQ rights in the…

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Why “Double Designate” Stonewall?

…role. While one page of the designation report describes the building’s architecture, ten pages describe the site history including sections on discrimination against gays, gay activism and resistance, and three…

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A Dominating Narrative: The Mineshaft and BDSM Culture in the Meatpacking District

…gay men who, at the time, were plagued by the onslaught of the HIV/AIDS crisis. The Gay Men’s Health Crisis used the club as a place to distrubte condoms and…

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Legendary LGBTQ Nightlife of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo

…appearance or discussion of gay people on public stages. To this day Webster Hall hosts a gay circuit party series named “Devil’s Playground” in honor of the parties of the…

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Pride Month in NYC: More Historic LGBT sites to visit in our neighborhoods

…few others to the list of “must visit sites.” The Gay Liberation Monument at Christopher Park is located right across from the Stonewall Inn (51-53 Christopher Street). It honors the gay…

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LGBTQ+ Pride Through The Decades

…his coming of age in the LGBT community; he documented his attendance at meetings of “Gay and Lesbian Youth of New York” at the Gay And Lesbian Community Center on…

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Unveiling & Dedication for the Mosaic Trail Light Poles

…of the Village Alliance Business Improvement District and City Lore, and many more, GVSHP is excited to participate in the unveiling of the Astor Place Mosaic Trail light poles at…

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2016 Village Award Winner: Julius’ Bar

…higher than 15 cents these days. [credit: Ephemeral New York]On April 21, 1966, three activists from the Mattachine Society, an early gay rights organization, walked up to the bar and…

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A Civil Rights Activist and the Café Society

…date Bayard Rustin was a pioneering activist involved in the struggles for civil rights, socialism, non-violence, and gay rights. In 1947 he helped initiate a freedom ride to combat racial…

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15 Trailblazing Women of Greenwich Village and the East Village

…cause of gay marriage in the United States. Her 2013 Supreme Court case was the first legal victory for gay marriage in the highest court in the land, striking down…

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Celebrating 50 Years of PFlag: Birthplace of a Movement of Empathy and Advocacy

…that founding with a plaque marking and honoring the site. This year, we joyfully celebrate the 50th anniversary of PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), an organization…

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Retracing the Stories and Homes of Early Village Preservationists

…homes from which these preservationists were inspired to join the cause. Here are just a few highlights: Margot Gayle – 44 West 9th Street Margot Gayle with an image of…

Campaign Update

ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF JULIUS’ “SIP-IN,” TRAILBLAZING LGBT CIVIL RIGHTS ACTION, GVSHP CALLS FOR LANDMARK DESIGNATION Iconic Image of Historic Event for Sale In Support of GVSHP’s Preservation Efforts

…popular among gay people but, like many “gay bars” at the time, required a level of secrecy by gay patrons or risked being shut down. Identifying themselves as ‘homosexuals,’ the…

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GVSHP 2016 Book List & Holiday Gift Ideas

…Howard Gay, Louis Napoleon and the Record of Fugitives During the fourteen years Sydney Howard Gay edited the American Anti-Slavery Society’s National Anti-Slavery Standard in New York City, he worked…

Campaign Update

NAACP and National LGBTQ Task Force Come Out in Support of South of Union Square Landmarking Effort; New Research Submitted

…long-time ban on gay people holding federal employment, got homosexuality removed from the American Psychiatric Association’s list of mental illnesses, won court rulings protecting the rights of gay teachers from…

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Remembering the Ramrod Massacre

…killed and six were wounded in this hate- and cocaine-fueled rampage that targeted and shocked the gay community. Happier times in front of the Ramrod, from the Village People’s “YMCA”…

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Jeanne Manford, PFLAG, and the Village

…and gay men, and not many people publicly embraced the identity of parents of lesbian and gay children. Church of the Village at 13th Street and 7th Avenue, the birthplace…

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Impressions of Great Establishments of Greenwich Village: An Evening with Artist Lily Annabelle Caleakav, Village Preservation, and the LGBT Historic Sites Project

… Three Lives & Co. • Cherry Lane Theatre • IFC • Julius • Gay Activists Alliance…

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Looking Back On Our Civil Rights and Social Justice Map

…of significance to the LGBT civil rights movement, like the Stonewall Inn, Julius’ Bar, or the Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse, or sites in the South and East Village connected to African-American,…

Campaign Update

April 2024 Programs: Vanished Mansions, the Birth of Seventh Avenue South, and More

…Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse • Cubbyhole • The Stonewall Inn • Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop About the Artist: Lily Annabelle…

Campaign Update

With #Stonewall50 Underway, Will City Protect LGBT Landmarks?

…Services Center at 208 West 13th Street, and the former Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse at 99 Wooster Street. Five years later and on the eve of the 50th anniversary of…

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From Condemned Land to National Monument: Christopher Park

…April 5, 1837, paving the way for it to become a neighborhood park. These statues by George Segal are titled Gay Liberation in honor of gay rights and the Village’s…

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Christopher Park: A Small Space with a Long History

…as part of the 7.7-acre Stonewall National Monument in 2016. Christopher Park is also home to George Segal’s statue “Gay Liberation,” honoring the gay rights movement that began at Stonewall….

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Pride on West 13th Street

…1983, Caring Community defaulted on its lease and the LGBT-focused sublets, along with local gay and AIDS activists, saw the perfect spot for a permanent home. In December of that…

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In Memoriam: Doric Wilson

…beliefs, a trait that was further apparent in his advocacy for civil-rights and the anti-Vietnam-War movement. A member of GAA (Gay Activist Alliance), he opened the famed Village gay bars…

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Secrets of the Underground Railroad/Greenwich Village Connections: A Lecture and Book Signing by Don Papson with remarks by Otis Kidwell Burger

…1855 and 1856, Gay recorded the moving stories of over 200 fugitives. His unexpected transformation from slavery apologist to abolitionist, his unlikely alliance with the free black conductor, Louis Napoleon,…

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12 social change champions of Greenwich Village

Few places on Earth have attracted more or a broader array of activists and agitators for social change than Greenwich Village. And much of that activity took place right in…

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Igal Roodenko: Printer and Civil Rights Trailblazer #SouthOfUnionSquare

…the first demonstration against the United States military’s involvement in Vietnam, and in his later life he spoke openly about being gay and supported the Gay Liberation movement. Upon his…

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20 transformative women of Greenwich Village

…right up to today, pioneering women have made the Greenwich Village Historic District their home, from congresswoman Bella Abzug and gay rights advocate Edie Windsor to playwright Lorraine Hansberry and photographer Berenice…

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(Even More) Civil Rights and Social Justice Champions in Our Neighborhoods

…gay adoption ban, and a lawsuit filed against the 24 neo-Nazi and white supremacist leaders responsible for organizing the racist attacks in Charlottesville, VA in 2017. This entry can also…

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Otis Kidwell Burger, Who’s Seen the Village From Suffrage to Luxury

…provided by Otis. Otis Kidwell Burger comes from a long line of activists. Her great-grandfather was Sydney Howard Gay, a New Yorker who became a fierce abolitionist after taking a…

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The Supposed Streets of Little Africa

…a landowner through whose property the street was cut, and the 45th mayor of New York City. Richard Varick (1753–1831), painting from the New-York Historical Society Gay Street The name…

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In Fight to Protect LGBTQ+ History, Too Many Landmarks Remain Unprotected South of Union Square

…and many more within our proposed South of Union Square Historic District. 80 Fifth Avenue (left); press conference announcing the formation of the National Gay Task Force, 1973 One of…

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Archive Update: Photographing the Federal-era Houses of Lower Manhattan

…extension of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Photographed by Susan De Vries, 1996 14 Gay Street In November 2022, demolition permits were filed for the landmarked 200-year-old house at 14…

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Pride Month in All Corners of the Village

…has played in LGBT history and the LGBT rights movement. West Village The Stonewall Inn (51-53 Christopher Street) In the early morning of Saturday, June 28, 1969, dozens of gay…

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A Call for Consistency: LPC and 186 Spring Street

…the 1970s when multiple leading figures of the gay rights movement lived here in what was called a “gay commune”. This is the criteria the LPC has used when designating…

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Disappeared LGBT Sites: Oscar Wilde Bookshop and St. Vincent’s Catholic Medical Center

Stonewall Inn. Photo courtesy of Wikipedia. On June 23, 2015, The Stonewall Inn, the place where the modern lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights movement was born, was officially…

Campaign Update

Ribbon Cuttings, Reopenings, and Anniversaries Bring Neighborhood History to the Fore

…America in our neighborhoods Margot Gayle in front of an image of the Jefferson Market Courthouse (now library) At Grand and Lafayette Street in SoHo, Rapkin-Gayle Plaza opened honoring Chester…

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Ed Koch (1924-2013) and the Village

…Democrats club (the country’s first gay democratic club, founded in 1974 around the historic candidacy of Jim Owles as New York City’s first openly-gay candidate for elected office — Koch’s…

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Oral Histories of the “Virtual Village” — South of Union Square

…holds recorded and transcribed interviews with some of the the great artists, activists, business owners, community leaders, and preservation pioneers of our neighborhoods. Paula Poons, 827-831 Broadway Paula Poons, 2017. Paula…

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St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery’s Pride Ribbon Project

…controversial novel “Faggots”, about New York City’s gay subculture in 1970s. When AIDS began to spread through the gay community, Larry co-founded the Gay Men’s Health Crisis (now known as…

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A Lot To Be Thankful For

…the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights movement. This insurrection gave birth to the gay liberation phase of the lesbian and gay rights movement, transforming the…

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Celebrating Flag Day!

…orange, yellow, green, turquoise, indigo, and violet descending from the top. The following two “rainbow flag-inspired” images are from the Robert Fisch Collection, dating froim from gay pride events. Gay…

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Happy Birthday, Tom Bernardin!

…and his own apartment on East 52nd Street. While living in this apartment, Tom began his work and volunteering with Village preservation efforts, inspired by Margot Gayle, “one of the…

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Coming Out, and Going Out, in the Village

…Stonewall Inn, Julius’ is often called the oldest continuously operating gay bar in New York City. It was originally established in 1867 and by the 1950’s was attracting gay patrons. …

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LGBT History of the East Village: A Walking Tour

…to organize in support of gay rights. But gay culture has a long history in New York. Back in the 1880s queer and transvestite bordellos opened on the Bowery not…

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The Importance of #GivingTuesday

…of NYC’s oldest bars, and its oldest gay bar, Julius’ Bar. In 1966 Julius’ Bar was the site of a trailblazing civil protest for gay rights, more than three years before…

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The Jefferson Market Library: A Striking Landmark Shines Again

…academy, the building faced the wrecking ball in the post-World War II years. However, preeminent preservationist Margot Gayle led a grassroots effort to save the building, and it found new…

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LGBTQ History: Cooper Square and Bowery

…center of ‘gay’ nightlife in New York City. On Bleecker Street, the Black Rabbit and the Slide did business, offering live sex shows and male prostitutes. On the Bowery, Manilla…

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LGBT History in All Corners: NoHo

…histories or connections. Here are a few: Harvey Milk High School/Hetrick-Martin Institute (2 Astor Place) Harvey Milk High School (named for the first openly gay man to be elected to…

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13 places in Greenwich Village where the course of history was changed

…Inn at 53-55 Christopher Street and the ensuing nights of riots in late June 1969 had profound reverberations still being felt today. Police raids on gay bars were nothing new…

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Mae West learned “the best way to behave is to misbehave” in Greenwich Village

…sexuality. This work made her an early gay rights advocate. The actors’ unions of that time barred gay people from having speaking roles in plays. West did not care for…

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Astor Place Reconstruction Recalls Historic Streets, Mosaics & The Alamo

…in part by the Village Alliance and other stakeholders’ desire for more and better neighborhood public space. The current construction process started in 2013, and has been complicated by the combination of private and public…

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Progress on Astor Place Mosaic Lightpoles and Reconstruction

…with local collaboration from the Village Alliance BID, has been years in the making. The re-installation of the unique mosaic creations will affirm and highlight the importance of local artists…

Campaign Update

Celebrate LGBTQ Pride (Virtually) With Village Preservation

…LGBT landmarks expanded in 2019 with the designation of the LGBT Community Center and the former Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse. Here’s a few ways you can mark LGBTQ pride and…

Campaign Update

Explore, Celebrate, and Preserve LGBTQ+ History with Village Preservation This Pride Month

…designation for LGBTQ+ sites, including the Stonewall Inn (here and here), Julius’ Bar, and the LGBT Community Center, the Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse, Cafe Cino, and the Pyramid Club (here)….

Campaign Update

Celebrate and Explore LGBTQ+ History with Village Preservation This Pride Month

…here), Frank O’Hara (here and here), and the San Remo Cafe. The LGBT Community Center (left) and the former Gay Activists Alliance firehouse, two historic sites Village Preservation worked to…

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Elizabeth Gurley Flynn: Labor Activist and ‘Rebel Girl’ of the Village

It is no surprise that social movements for workers’ rights and freedom of speech were propelled by activists from Greenwich Village. The neighborhood in the early twentieth century was a…

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Eight Abandoned East Village Buildings’ Second Acts As Beacons of Culture

…dancers, performers, and activists of the East Village filled the buildings with new life, and the buildings, in turn, gave these new coalitions and organizations a place to grow and…

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Three Up, Three Down: Explore Our Greek Revival Heritage in Six Buildings

The Parthenon in Greece and St. Joseph’s Church in Manhattan Two centuries ago, a war began in Europe that would shape boundaries and alliances on the continent for years to…

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The social and cultural Puerto Rican history of the East Village

…in the streets for long-overdue reform and change. One milestone in that history took place 50 years ago when several Puerto Rican activists gathered in the East Village to found…

Oral History

Rich Wandel

Rich Wandel (b. May 20, 1946) is a former president of the Gay Activist Alliance, and served as the Archivist Historian at the LGBT Community Center from its founding in…

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A Complete Guide to the Charles B.J. Snyder Schools in Our Neighborhoods

…AIDS activist group ACT UP, and GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). Former P.S. 95 (Now P.S. 721 – Manhattan Occupational Training Center) 250 Houston Street Status – Extant…

Campaign Update

Village Preservation’s 19th Plaque Unveiled Marking Julius’ Bar and the 1966 Sip-In

…(who hosts a monthly party at Julius’ celebrating the Sip-In). State Senator Brad Hoylman dropped by, as did scores of activists, neighbors, fans, and writers, including Lucy Komisar, the author…

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The long road to landmark: How NYC’s Stonewall Inn became a symbol of civil rights

…name ‘Stonewall’ also used by countless organizations and entities around the world to signify the quest for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality. But in 1969, those three nights of…

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Julius’ Bar Plaque Unveiling

…a pioneering gay rights organization, challenged a regulation that prohibited bars from serving LGBT people by staging a “Sip-In” at Julius’, a bar with a large gay clientele. With reporters…

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Bea Arthur Residence: 2018 Regina Kellerman Award Winner

…Needs Although only 7% of the general youth population identifies as LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer/questioning), approximately 40% of youth who are currently homeless identify as LGBTQ. This represents…

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William Kunstler: Armchair Liberal Turned Radical Lawyer

…hearts of Greenwich Village, where Mr. Kunstler lived and worked for decades. William Kunstler in his Greenwich Village home/office at 13 Gay Street. Photo courtesy of Getty images/Ron Galella Mr….

Campaign Update

Julius’ Sip In 50th Anniversary Approaches

This coming Thursday will be the 50th anniversary of the “Sip In” at Julius’ Bar, the groundbreaking civil disobedience for LGBT rights. On April 21, 1966, three gay activists challenged state…

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LGBT History in All Corners of the Village: East Village

…of the most prolific writers of the Beat Generation, he was a staunch advocate of free speech and an early proponent of sexual freedom and gay rights. In 1954, he…

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GVSHP Keeping up the Fight

…of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender civil rights movement. This insurrection gave birth to the gay liberation phase of the lesbian and gay rights movement, transforming the struggle for…

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From Beebo Brinker to the Daughters of Bilitis: Lesbian Life in Greenwich Village Before StonewallA Lecture with Marcia Gallo

From Beebo Brinker to the Daughters of Bilitis: Lesbian Life in Greenwich Village Before Stonewall A Lecture with Marcia Gallo Wildly popular fictional as well as real-life gay women made…

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Berenice Abbott’s Greenwich Village

…here. Interestingly, Abbott saw fit to photograph the currently relevant 14-16 Gay Street. 14 Gay is the subject of much controversy at the moment as it is has been demolished…

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GVSHPride: Roundup of LGBTQ Resources and Information

…Genovese and the Village PFLAG Historic Plaque Unveiling On A Beautiful Day Landmarks Preservation Commission Celebrates Gay Pride, Doesn’t Designate Gay Landmarks Remembering Jeanne Manford and the Founding of PFLAG…

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GVSHP Oral History: Otis Kidwell Burger

…Mailer. Secret Lives of the Underground Railroad in New York City, Sydney Howard Gay, Louis Napoleon and the Record of Fugitives. Photo courtesy of Amazon.com Burger was born on November…

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Diana Davies Collection of Historic LGBT Images

…of the New York Public Library. Photo by Diana Davies, 1970. Source: NYPL. Photo by Diana Davies, 1970. Source: NYPL. These first two images were taken on “Christopher Street Gay…

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2015 Village Award Winner David Rothenberg

…gay people to run for City Council. Although he lost, he became a huge inspiration to the gay community, particularly in Greenwich Village – in a way, to many he…

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Preservation History Archive

…Anthony Dapolito, 1920-2003 The New York Times Obituary Theresa Fritsch, 1922-2008 The Villager Obituary Margot Gayle, 1908-2008 Margot Gayle, who passed away in September of 2008, served on the Village…

Campaign Update

Sneak Preview of September Village Preservation Events (and Some August Programs Still Open)

…September Programs (more to be added soon!) To Be Heard in Print: Black Gay Writers in 1980s New York Thursday, September 14, 2023 6:00pm Zoom Webinar Pre-registration is required. Free…

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PFLAG Plaque Unveiled

…took a stand against legal restrictions and conducted about one hundred gay marriages within the Church. Ed Egan, against the Bishop’s wishes, invited the predominantly-gay Metropolitan Community Church to have…

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