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Site of Stonewall Riots
is Threatened by The Port Authority

Would Dig Up & Construct PATH Stairways & Entrances

Plan is Opposed by Local Community and GLBT Leadership

Compiled by GayToday

One of the historic buildings in the path of a new commuter rail line

New York, New York--The site of the Stonewall riots in Greenwich Village is being threatened by a plan to dig up and construct new stairways and entrances to the New Jersey PATH line. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey runs the PATH, which is a commuter rail link between Manhattan and New Jersey.

The plan is universally opposed by the local community, local elected officials, and prominent leaders of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) community. They fear that it will adversely impact on the historic neighborhood where the modern gay rights movement began in June 1969.

A group of 24 prominent leaders of the LGBT community have sounded an alarm by signing a letter to Governor George Pataki (R-New York) urging him to order the Port Authority (PA) to halt all work and plans for the project.

The Port Authority is controlled by the governors of New York and New Jersey. The plan would permanently narrow Christopher Street to make way for the two new PATH entrances.

Christopher Street is the heart of Greenwich Village and part of the route of the enormous Gay Pride march that takes place every year in late June. The march attracts more than 100,000 people to this part of the city and is one of the largest parades in the world.

The Stonewall Inn is located on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. Early on the morning of June 28, 1969, a six-day-long intermittent series of confrontations with the police began when the police raided the gay bar. For the first time the patrons, who were fed up with being harassed by the police, decided to fight back.

Related Stories from the GayToday Archive:
Remembering the Stonewall Era

GAA and the Birth of Gay Liberation

GayToday's History Project

Related Sites:
Save Stonewall

Christopher Street Preservation

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These events are universally recognized as the birth of the gay liberation movement. The Stonewall Historic District was created on the 30th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

The District includes the streets and sidewalks around the Stonewall Inn, at the suggestion of the United States Department of the Interior, because that was where most of the fighting took place.

David Carter, author of the forthcoming book, Stonewall, said, "I recruited these prominent members of the LGBT community to attract the support and attention of the LGBT community. "Our Call to Action" urges everyone to call and write Governor Pataki and let him know how we feel about this attempt to destroy our most important historic site."

A pair of Christopher Street buildings threatned with extinction

A web site www.SaveStonewall.org is also being launched later this week to encourage the LGBT community to contact Governor Pataki to ask him to prevent the PA from going ahead with its plans. Governor Pataki can be reached at:
Governor George E. Pataki
Executive Chamber
State Capitol, Albany, N.Y. 12224,
Telephone: (518) 474-1041.

Another web site that has information about this project is: www.christopherstreetpreservation.org.

Martin Duberman, a gay historian who has also written a book on Stonewall, said, "Many of the signers voiced a sense of alarm at how quickly the Port Authority has been moving to get this project on the fast track. They have completely ignored the community's concerns and the historic importance of this neighborhood. Test holes have already been drilled and plans are underway to begin construction as soon as the Gay Pride march is over on June 30."

Some of the signers of the "Call to Action" are playwright Edward Albee, the winner of this year's Tony Award wining best play, The Goat or Who is Sylvia, Tony Award wining actor/playwright and author of Torch Song Trilogy Harvey Fierstein, Phyllis Lyon and Del Martin, the founders of America's first national lesbian organization, the Daughters of Bilitis, Tony Award wining playwright for Angels in America Tony Kushner, and the writers Rita Mae Brown and Edmund White.