The Past And Present Of Christopher Street The Home Of Pride

Greenwich Village has always been a non-conforming nook, with a layout that ignores the city’s grid system and residents who paved the way for social justice. Fifty years after the Stonewall Riots, the directors of the New York City LGBT Historic Sites Project reflect on the historical significance and enduring appeal of the Village’s Christopher Street.

Jay Shockley and Ken Lustbader, co-directors of the New York City LGBT Historic Sites Project, have been frequenting Christopher Street since the 1970s and ’80s. “I think Christopher Street is a pioneer of love because it really tells a story of people’s needs to connect,” says Lustbader, whose first date with his husband was at a restaurant called David’s Pot Belly Stove, once situated at 94 Christopher Street.

Jay Shockley (left) and Ken Lustbader are co-directors of the New York City LGBT Historic Sites Project

In decades past, homophobic attacks were common in NYC, and Christopher Street offered strength in numbers. The entire thoroughfare, from the piers, where trans and gender non-conforming teens congregated, to the PATH train at West Ninth Street, was lined with gay-owned and gay-friendly businesses. Many doubled as spaces where the community would come together and organize activism efforts.

Christopher Street was the site of the 1969 Stonewall Riots, a clash between the New York Police Department and patrons of The Stonewall Inn. While this wasn’t the first gay rights protest (Shockley calls that notion “a total myth,” adding that “[t]here were very serious people throughout the 1950s and ’60s that were doing a lot of legwork”), it was a rallying cry that helped ignite a global LGBTQ rights movement.

The Stonewall Inn is now a designated National Historic Landmark

In the ’90s, the devastation of the AIDS crisis coupled with rising rents caused a shift that would edge Christopher Street towards its modern incarnation: LGBTQ in spirit, if not demographically. Neighborhoods change fast in this city, but thanks to efforts by Shockley, Lustbader and their colleagues, the site of the Stonewall uprising is now a designated National Historic Landmark.

“Even if the stores change ownership, even if The Stonewall Inn closes, even if there are no gay people living in the Village any longer,” says Lustbader, “as long as that is still a monument, people will understand that Christopher Street was a really important place, before and after Stonewall.”

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.