Chelsea Building, Five Other Sites Join Stonewall Inn As Historic LGBT Landmarks
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - During this World Pride Month, millions of people are expected to visit the Stonewall Inn marking 50 years since the riots and subsequent LGBT rallies at the Greenwich Village bar.
Back in 2015, Stonewall was the first site to receive a landmark status for its role in LGBT rights, but a week before celebrations in New York City, six more sites have been added to the growing list - all of them supported the LBGT community over the years.
One spot in Chelsea may seem like nothing more than a brick building to those who pass by, but that's not the case for Tammy Rivera.
"It's a safe haven to know that you can come here and feels like home, its comfortable," she said.
Rivera is one of the thousands of people to graduate from the Nontraditional Employment for Women program. For 41 years, women and gender non-conforming individuals have been taking trade classes inside the former located in Chelsea.
"The tradeswomen in New York City are making history every day," said Kathleen Culhane, president of the program.
But now, the building itself is making history. It's one of six New York City sites that the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated as individual landmarks for it's LGBT associations.
"While LGBT history goes back to the beginning of time, the Civil Rights movement is relatively recent and we to make sure we are recognizing that story," said Sarah Carroll, commissioner of the commission.
This means the buildings can't be demolished or significantly altered.
The list also includes the LGBT Community Center in the West Village, the former Gay Activists Alliance Firehouse in SoHo that was used a headquarters for alliance meetings, and a West Village building that is now a bar but used to be Caffe Chino.
MORE: NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project List
"It was an incubator space for gay playwrights and actors where they had no other place to go," said Ken Lustbader, co-director of the NYC LBGT Historic Sites Project.
The list also includes the former residences of two of the nation's most important African-American writers and civil rights activities: Audre Lorde's house on Staten Island, and James Baldwin's apartment building on the Upper West Side.
"He met there with many of the civil rights leaders, during his residency there," said Lustbader.
MORE: Celebrate World Pride NYC Stonewall 50
In addition to the recognition, the city is making it easier for people to stay up to date about Worldpride events. The New York City's Emergency Management's Notify NYC launched a texting short code ahead of World Pride NYC.
People can text NYCPRIDE2019 to 692692 to receive alerts and notifications about WorldPride NYC events June 19, 2019. For more, see the Notify NYC website.
