Prouder than ever. Christopher Street-Sheridan Square Subway Station in the West Village is changing its name in honor of the Stonewall riots that sparked the gay rights movement, where activists faced off against police in multi-day protests in 1969.
The station will soon be renamed Christopher Street-Stonewall National Monument Station thanks to a new bill sponsored by Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assembly Member Deborah Glick.
Changing the name is a small but significant assertion, an effort to acknowledge the iconic Stonewall Inn, the historic landmark where the LGBTQ+ community reunited secretly to avoid persecution, when New York was not yet a gay stronghold.
In 2016, then-President Barack Obama made the Stonewall Inn a national monument, becoming the country’s first and only national park dedicated to LGBTQ+ history. This month it will open its official visitor center.
