Rockaway beach gay
Saving The People’s Beach
Jacob Riis Park Beach is known for its history, part of which is being named after Jacob Riis, a journalist, and photographer who was among the first to use his writing and photography to take attention to the living conditions of the needy.
It also serves as a landmark in another sense, as it&#;s been a haven for Modern York’s LGBTQ and BIPOC community since the s. It’s even considered to be the most widespread gay beach in Brand-new York City history.
The Neponsit Nursing Home building has been in disrepair for years and is currently being demolished by the city. The future of the People&#;s Beach is uncertain. This led to a meeting held by the Rockaway for Riis Coalition on Protest 19 on the beach on where things be upright.
The Neponsit Nursing Abode once provided a sound haven for the LGBT community. By David Shankbone / Wikipedia.
“I&#;m originally from Bayside. But now, I live in Bed Stuy. And I love coming here to the beach. This is one of my favorite parts of Queens. I have so many good memories here,” said Marie Baietto.
Ceyenne Doroshow, founder and executive director of the organization GLITS (Gays and Lesbians Living In A Trans Society),
The uncertain future of a historic LGBTQ+ safe space: New York City's People's Beach
The summer season in New York Metropolis is informally marked each year by the hoisting of Pride flags on The People's Beach, a queer haven tucked away on the far eastern corner of the city's Jacob Riis Park in Queens.
"When I was a runaway, when I had no community at all, I came and I witnessed something that I never even knew existed: that was a meaning of family," said Ceyenne Doroshow, activist and founder of LGBTQ advocacy organization GLITS. "People fed me, people dressed me."
This has been a popular gathering place for the Diverse community since the s, shaped by its beachgoers into more than just a spot to sunbathe and swim. It's a place of direct and indirect social activism, where queer joy is at the heart of the jumble of music, umbrella and bodies packed tightly along the shoreline each weekend.
But the land directly surrounding the beach is drastically and quickly switching. The recent demolition of an abandoned building, a $50 million building restoration plan and erosion threaten the future of this safe haven, some activists and beachgoers told ABC New
Riis Park Beach
History
Located on a mile-long section of Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, Jacob Riis Park was named after the turn-of-theth-century social reformer and photojournalist. Historically, Modern York City beaches contain been popular public social gathering places for the LGBT community where they claimed certain sections as their own.
In the s the beach was redesigned under the direction of New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. When the park reopened in , Moses hoped that it would be a more democratic version of Jones Beach due to its easy accessibility by public transportation and cars. By the s the most eastern end of the beach had turn into a documented well-known destination for mostly white homosexual men to sunbathe and cruise. Lesbian women also claimed a nearby area of the beach by the s. By the s, this area became increasingly popular with a diverse LGBT presence including African American and Latino/a men and women.
During the s this area of the beach became clothing optional and was affectionately referred to as “Screech Beach” due to the gay presence. The LGBT Community Center National History Archive has a collection of photographs of
Above Left: A group of Lesbian women at Riis Park, mid s. (Courtesy Lesbian Herstory Archives)
Above Right: Emma Van Cott (front) and Ernestine Eckstein, public figure of the NY chapter of the first national Lesbian organization “Daughters Of Bilitis,” at Riis Park, (Courtesy Lesbian Herstory Archives)
In the s, the easternmost end of Jacob Riis Park Beach became a destination for gay men, and in the s, lesbian women were also drawn to the area. By the s, the beach drew an increasingly diverse group of Homosexual beachgoers, but there were also growing reports of harassment of gay beachgoers by police. In , the Gay Activist Alliance, one of the male lover rights organizations that formed in the wake of the Stonewall Uprising, held a voter registration pilot at the beach. Today, the eastern section of Jacob Riis Beach remains a destination for Homosexual beachgoers as a queer-friendly space.
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