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AIDS Crisis [NYC LGBT HISTORIC SITES]
In 1981, a “rare cancer” first seen in a group of gay men primarily in New York and San Francisco eventually became a widespread epidemic more accurately known as acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). This curated collection includes the residences of influential AIDS activists and artists, venues where fundraising events were held, and meeting and demonstration locations of AIDS organizations.
2 Fifth Avenue
Author, playwright, and pioneering activist Larry Kramer has resided in this Greenwich Village apartment for over three decades.
His home was the founding location of Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) and the site of meetings related to gay activism.
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Paradise Garage
Between 1977 and 1987, the Paradise Garage was one of the most important and influential clubs in New York City with a devoted patronage comprised of sexual and ethnic minorities (primarily African-American gay men). In April 1982, the recently formed Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC) held its first fundraiser, called Showers, at the Paradise Garage and raised over $50,000.
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Vito Russo Residence
Best remembered for his pioneering book The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies, Vito Russo was also a significant gay rights and AIDS activist in the 1970s and ’80s.
He lived in this Chelsea apartment building from mid-1969 until his death from AIDS in 1990.
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Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center, a world-class performing arts center, has had close connections to the LGBT community since planning began in the mid-1950s.
It was also the location of the first AIDS Walk, sponsored by the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, in 1986.
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208 West 13th Street
Since 1983, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Community Center has served as a vital support system for hundreds of thousands of people.
The Center has witnessed the founding of ACT UP, GLAAD, Las Buenas Amigas, Queer Nation, and the Lesbian Avengers, and for many years was the meeting location for the Metropolitan Community Church of New York and SAGE.
The Gender Identity Project, which was established here in 1989, is the longest running service provider for the transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) community in the state.
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New York Stock Exchange
The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) formed in 1987 to call attention to the AIDS crisis.
In 1989, it held two successful demonstrations at the New York Stock Exchange to protest the high price of the AIDS drug AZT, which was unaffordable to most people living with HIV.
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45 Rivington Street
In 1995, this former public school re-opened as a 219-bed nursing home for AIDS patients, the largest of its kind in New York City.
After almost twenty years of service, Rivington House was controversially sold by the City of New York to a private developer in 2015.
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