NEW YORK
David Shoemaker reports from the great city, rediscovers its charms, and why it will be the centre of the LGBTIQ world this June.
Celebrates Stonewall 50, World Pride 2019 and art, art, food and art!
STONEWALL 50
AS A MINORITY culture in the grand scheme of things, the LGBTIQ community has come a long way in a short time. We’ve been blessed by a growing list of countries decriminalising same-sex relations and legalising gay marriage – so much so that it’s now the countries that persecute us who are in the minority.
Some say it all kicked off in New York 50 years ago, making 2019 a major celebration of one of the most significant events in our history: The Stonewall Riots.
In the early hours of June 28, 1969 at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, police raided the Mafia-run gay bar, as they often did, arresting the patrons and extorting the management. But on this occasion, they were met with something they didn’t expect: resistance. In a time when it wasn’t legal to be homosexual, a motley crew of some of the most marginalized members of our community took a stand and started a civil rights movement that led to days of protest. A clear message was sent to LGBTIQ people around the world: it was time to fight back.
This was an era in which police raids on gay venues in the USA was commonplace. Violence had erupted prior to Stonewall. A raid at an LA coffee shop in 1959, and a San Francisco café in 1967 had also resulted in queers kicking back against police oppression.
Stonewall, however, was different because it mobilised the community into political activism. For years, the buttoned-down Mattachine Society had been peacefully picketing Congress and collecting signatures on petitions, respectfully asking for LGBT rights. Little progress was made. Stonewall marked the beginning of a more militant approach – a loud, colourful, unapologetic demand for an end to persecution.
A year later, the first Gay Pride marches were held in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Gay Liberation movement was born, and its shockwave travelled from New York to London, where it inspired the Gay Liberation Front, and Sydney, sparking the first Mardi Gras.
In those days, being part of such a parade could mean subjecting yourself to harassment, scrutiny and physical harm; a far cry from what we expect from a Pride parade today.
In June 2019, the City Of New York will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stonewall and, fittingly, the 6th World Pride event, themed One World. The month-long celebration is expected to draw three million people and be the largest Pride celebration in history. The city will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stonewall with the NYC Pride March on June 30th, 2019.
NEW: THE HUDSON YARDS
IF YOU asked a future archeologist what New York’s greatest achievements was, she might say Hudson Yards. Built on purchased air space feet above the city’s train yard, Hudson Yards will be an architectural wonder and the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States.
It isn’t just a new building or shopping mall, but an entire new New York suburb that will create 18 million square-feet of commercial and residential space, 4,000 new homes and 14 acres of new public and green space.
Hudson Yards is surrounded by a previously abandoned railway line called The High Line. Originally a freight line shipping supplies of coal, dairy and beef, and then a haven for junkies and the homeless, this elevated railroad track has been repurposed and revitalised into a linear park and aerial greenway.
The 2.3km High Line (from just below 14th Street to the edge of 34th), is busy with local traffic at all times of day; parents with prams, joggers on their daily runs, and New Yorkers and tourists out for an evening stroll. The line is covered in trees and street art and provides great views of the Lower West Side from the Meatpacking District to Chelsea, the Hudson River and Hudson Yards.
This new suburb, and soon-to-be-completed showpiece of New York, will feature The Vessel. Described as a new kind of landmark and created by Thomas Heatherwick, The Vessel will be a giant staircase rising 16 stories and a truly unique, interactive experience. It’s a monument that’s meant to be climbed and explored. Reminiscent of the paradoxical Penrose Staircase, The Vessel is comprised of 154 intricately interconnecting flights of stairs and 80 landings. This larger-than-life art piece will become one of New York City’s next main attractions.
Hudson Yards also contains a new centre for the arts called The Shed, opening this northern spring. The Shed is a place that will celebrate artistic innovation, bringing together leading artists working in every form including the humanities and sciences. Space in The Shed has also been devoted to street artists, who represent the local history and current identity of the neighbourhood.
The Shed’s most notable design feature is its unique flexible structure that can physically transform shape and size to accommodate artists’ visions and the work they bring to the space. The shell of The Shed is built on a track with rail wheels allowing it to expand and contract. The 1,580-square-metre plaza will be an open public space for outside programming and will be a haven for creative expression.
TO SEE IN NYC SLEEP NO MORE
When it comes to immersive live theatre,
Sleep No More is the benchmark production. It originated in London, transferred to New York for what was expected to be a limited run, and has been there now for 10 years.
Loosely based on Macbeth, the action plays out over five floors of The McKittrick Hotel, a block of warehouses in Chelsea.
The audience enters the theatre space through a dingy, sexy nightclub. Inside, everyone is given a random playing card and then invited into the hotel where you receive a face mask and instructions on how to interact with what you witness. This unique production slowly converts you into a ghost – a ghost among other ghosts, watching mysterious events unfold. The haunted house becomes an immersive world that you can explore, observe and interact with.
With multiple floors and actors you can follow, you’ll never see the whole play once, and if you return, you’ll never see the same play twice. From the strange nurse in the asylum, to the mysterious woman in the forest, to the ballroom murder and the sexy, naked man who showers in front of you and kisses another man, the things you see are always changing. That’s what makes this production so unique and worth experiencing.
THE PROM
For anyone enjoys a nostalgic trip down memory lane and the story of star-crossed lovers, this is the Broadway show to see. It starts with a cast of failing theatre performers looking for a way to find stardom, and ends with a girl asking another girl to love her. And she does.
THE BOX
A staple of the Lower East Side for the last 10 years, The Box is a music, burlesque and erotica theater like no other, and a constantly changing Rubik’s Cube roster of thrilling and sometimes shocking acts. The night I was there, a girl in an over-sized champagne glass drank her co-stars’ piss!
GAY SECRETS OF THE MET
Oscar Wilde Tours focus on the hidden gay history in art. It’s the brainchild of Professor Lear, a retired Classics professor and world expert on the history of same-sex love. The gay secrets tours of The Metropolitan Museum Of Art uncovers the hidden gay side of the Met’s astonishing art collection from ancient Greece to modern times.
THE WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART
First of all, this is not a museum devoted to Whitney Houston. This is eight floors of old and new art with a rotating selection of some of the best artists from around the world. There are very famous pieces hung here and a host of lesser known artists to discover. It’s very cool and quite cruisy.