This New Space in Manhattan Celebrates New York City's Queer History — and It's Open Now

28.06.2024 - 17:01 / travelandleisure.com / Barack Obama

When it comes to queer history, the city of New York has always been a national beacon. From ballroom culture to iconic nightlife venues to the devastating impact of the AIDS epidemic, New York City plays a pivotal role in shaping the global LGBTQ+ narrative. And there are countless institutions and organizations dedicated to not only preserving that history but also uplifting the community today.

Now, a space that pays homage to queer culture will add to that storied legacy with the debut of The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center on Christopher Street, in the heart of one of Manhattan’s most important gayborhoods, just in time for this year’s Pride celebrations.

Plans to launch The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center were hatched by the team at Pride Live, a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ+ causes, as early as 2016 when then-President Barack Obama designated the area surrounding Stonewall Inn, where the Stonewall Rebellion took place in the summer of 1969, a national monument. This recognition renamed the 7.7-acre pocket of Greenwich Village The Stonewall National Monument — the first U.S. national monument specifically designated to LGBTQ+ history and rights.

To Pride Live founder Diana Rodriguez, it’s only right for a U.S. national monument to have its own visitor center. “My vision for the visitor center is to advance the Stonewall legacy, engage today’s generation to take an active role in supporting that legacy, and highlight the historic partnership between the visitor center and the National Park Service (NPS),” Rodriguez told Travel + Leisure of the inspiration to open the venue.

For the Pride Live team, the visitor center didn’t even need to be a permanent structure — a mobile concept was also considered — but when 51 Christopher Street became available for lease in 2022, Pride Live jumped at the chance. That property was originally part of the building that was Stonewall Inn. The bar that stands on 53 Christopher Street today is all but a portion of the historic boite that was at the heart of the 1969 gay rights uprising. Since then, No. 51 has been all sorts of things (including a bagel shop) until Pride Live signed a 10-year lease to transform it into the visitor center. (In fact, No. 53 has held many lives, too, including as a Szechuan restaurant. The current Stonewall there now has only been opened as a gay bar since 2007.)

Courtesy of EDG Architecture + Engineering

So the visitor center’s opening is a reunion of sorts. While both venues are separate in both management and operation, they’re at least now cohesively related to the same historic moment in time. (And now, they’re both gay.)

“I think the most significant contribution we can make is having reclaimed what was