Press Release
March 30, 2021
Dan Keefe | Brian Nearing
(518) 486-1868 | news@parks.ny.gov
Public Design Workshop Schedule Expanded for Marsha P. Johnson State Park
New virtual sessions scheduled
Wednesday session to be held online
The
Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) invites
participation in public design workshops for Marsha P. Johnson State Park in
Brooklyn. The series of planned workshops has been expanded to include three
newly scheduled virtual sessions. The workshops will help develop a shared
vision for the commemorative design and interpretive elements to celebrate the
life of Marsha P. Johnson and the LGBTQ+
movement.
Due to expected
inclement weather, the workshops originally scheduled for Wednesday at the park
will now be held online. Log-in information for all virtual workshops follows:
Meeting ID: 957 8992 8808
Passcode: 519844
In-person
workshops will be held at the park, weather permitting, at 90 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn,
NY 11211. Workshops will be broken into hourly segments. Participants do
not need to attend the entire workshop, but should join at the top of the hour.
Each hour segment will include a brief introduction, followed by small-group break-out
sessions, and a wrap-up.Below is the
updated schedule: Initial
public listening sessionWednesday,
March 31 – 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 7 pm. Virtual meeting. Saturday, April
3 – 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 7 pm. In person meeting. Monday, April 5
– 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 7 pm. In person meeting. Public
design review Tuesday, April
20 – 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 7 pm. In person meeting.Saturday, April
24 – 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 7 pm. In person meeting.
Monday, April 26 – 6 to 9 pm. Virtual meeting.
Monday, April 26 – 6 to 9 pm. Virtual meeting.
Final public
review
Saturday, May 1
– 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 7 pm. In person meeting.Monday, May 3 –
6 to 9 pm. Virtual meeting.
Marsha P. Johnson, formerly East River State Park, was dedicated
to her namesake in August 2020. Known as an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights
and HIV/AIDS treatment, Marsha was a prominent leader of the Stonewall Uprising
of 1969 and later established a shelter in New York City to support LGBTQ young
people rejected by their families. She was born August 24, 1945 and died in
1992 at age 46.
She
was a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front, an activist with ACT UP, and
a co-founder of S.T.A.R., along with Sylvia Rivera. Born in New Jersey, Marsha
moved to Greenwich Village after graduating from high school. She turned
her hardships and her struggles with mental illness into activism for others,
participating in demonstrations with ACT UP and raising awareness of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City.
The New York
State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than
250 individual state parks, historic sites, recreational trails, and boat
launches, which are visited by 78 million people annually. For more information
on these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit parks.ny.gov connect on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.