An Insider’s Guide to LGBTQ+ New York City
Joe is the founder and co-owner of Pride Tours NYC. He started the company two years ago in collaboration with the New York–hosted WorldPride 2019, and it's been accredited as an Official NYC Pride Partner ever since. “It’s the most comprehensive historical tour on the Pride movement in New York City,” Joe says.
During the 1-hour tour that culminates at the birthplace of Pride, The Stonewall Inn, Joe recounts NYC’s LGBTQ+ history, from before the Stonewall uprising through to the rise of Pride as we know it today. “The story of Pride is the story of our LGBTQIA+ community bravely standing up to bullying and discrimination against any member of our community,” Joe says, “Our tour tells the story of the birth of Pride through that lens.”
Read on for everything you need to know about NYC Pride, and for Joe top picks on where to stay, drink, and learn in New York City.
Your guide to LGBTQ+ New York City
“I love New York City … it’s the biggest village in the world,” Joe says. “There are only a few cities with a village feel, maybe London, too, but because the New York City boroughs are mostly islands, that village feel never really goes away.”
New York City’s LGBTQ+ neighborhoods
Greenwich Village is to New York as the Castro is to San Francisco, so while you’ll find pockets of LGBTQ+ history and culture across each of New York’s five boroughs, there’s no single neighborhood more significant—or home to more historic sites, organizations, and bars—than the Village. Joe also recommends staying in the East Village or the Lower East Side, two neighboring counterculture hubs. “Those areas [Greenwich Village included] are my personal favorites to experience the hipness and beauty of New York City.”
Where to learn about NYC’s LGBTQ+ history
For an immersion into NYC’s LGBTQ+ history, there’s only one possible starting point: The Stonewall Inn. Read the plaque outside, grab a drink inside, and if Tree's behind the bar, you might just get a firsthand account of the Stonewall uprising. “My favorite stop [on the tour] is of course the Stonewall Inn,” Joe says. “Telling the story of our movement’s uprising night is always the most moving part of the tour for me.”
The best places to get a drink and meet others
According to Joe, a good night out in NYC starts with a round at Julius’, said to be the oldest gay bar in NYC, followed by a Broadway singalong at Marie's Crisis Café piano bar, then a show at the Stonewall Inn or the Duplex. “Both the Stonewall Inn and the Duplex in Greenwich Village have showrooms with first-rate comedy, drag, and music performances,” Joe says.
Must-visit LGBTQ+-owned institutions
Big Gay Ice Cream, a seasonal ice cream truck turned Greenwich Village ice cream parlor, is one of Joe’s favorite spots. Expect tongue-in-cheek flavor names like “Dorothy” (vanilla with dulce de leche rolled in Nilla wafer cookies) and “Salty Pimp” (vanilla with slightly salted dulce de leche and a chocolate shell).
All about NYC Pride
A brief history of NYC Pride
In the early hours of June 28, 1969, undercover NYPD officers entered the Stonewall Inn—a Greenwich Village gay bar frequently subjected to police raids—arresting employees, drag queens, and cross-dressing patrons. Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two transgender women of color, are often credited with throwing the first bottles or bricks that sparked six nights of protests and police brutality. While not the first rebellion, these events accelerated the LGBTQ+ rights movement globally and are the very reason we celebrate Pride every June.
Today, New York is home to the world’s largest Pride parade (alongside São Paulo), with some 5 million people taking to the city’s rainbow-lined streets during 2019’s WorldPride celebrations.
The importance of Pride
As the slogan goes, “the first Pride was a riot.” NYC Pride might not appear as politically motivated 53 years on, but at its core its mission is to fight for a world without discrimination and equal rights.
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