A Subway station in New York City with much LGBTQ+ history has been renamed after the Stonewall riots to commemorate a pivotal movement for the gay community ahead of this year’s Pride weekend.
The Christopher Street-Sheridan Square station on the 1 line in Greenwich Village was officially dubbed the Christopher Street-Stonewall station on Friday after Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation sponsored by state Sen. Brad Holman-Sigal and state Assemblyman Deborah Click into law. The renaming was also officiated by MTA Chair Janno Lieber.
The formal renaming is meant to commemorate the riots that occurred exactly 55 years ago on June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, and now Stonewall National Monument, right next to the station. This protest, which started because the queer bar was raided by police numerous times, sparked the contemporary LGBTQ+ rights movement in the city and across the United States. Marsha P. Johnson, the transgender woman who is known as the first to throw a brick at Stonewall, is often commended as one of the central figures of the movement and had the formerly known East River State Park in Williamsburg renamed after her in 2020.
Christopher Street-Stonewall station’s renaming marks another memorialization of the historic resistance which is now a significant part of Pride along with NYC and gay history.
“New York is the birthplace of the LGBTQ+ rights movement and has always been a leader in advancing equality and justice for all Americans,” Hochul said in a statement. “As elected officials in other states are using their powers to take those rights away, I am proud to sign legislation to uplift LGBTQ+ history.”
In addition to the station’s renaming, Gov. Hochul, President Joe Biden, and other leading Democratic officials attended the opening of a new visitors center honoring the Stonewall uprising on Friday. The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center at 51 Christopher St. is meant to commemorate queer history and is open to the public free of charge.
