Officials in New York have paused the construction of a park dedicated to queer activist/icon Marsha P. Johnson, following harsh criticism from Johnson’s family and local activists.
Officials initially announced the park last year, set as a revamp of East River State Park in the Williamsburg neighborhood. The park would have featured a new park house, restored concrete, new seating areas, and a ground mural featuring the transgender and queer pride colors. For the moment, however, work on the redesign has gone on hiatus pending more input from the community.
“The interpretive design elements of this project will not be installed until we can develop a new path forward with the community,” New York City regional director Leslie Wright said in a statement, according to Gay City News. “This means no mural will be placed on the historical concrete slabs in the park and no floral interpretive elements will be installed in the gantry plaza area. We will work hand in hand with the community to identify a more appropriate commemorative design.”
The redesign of the park had come under fire from Johnson’s family as well as transgender activists who felt they were not properly consulted prior to the adoption of the new design. They also criticized the revamp as a vanity project of sorts for embattled New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
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Related: New York just gave Marsha P. Johnson a birthday gift: Her own memorial park
“I personally feel this was a mass deception campaign and our family was deceived, moving forward, from this point forward, no one will be trying to exploit my cousin’s name without consulting with my family,” Marsha Johnson’s cousin James Carey said during a Community Board 1’s Parks Committee on March 4. “I sent correspondences to the governor personally to let him know that our family as a whole we’re happy that you’re naming the park in the memory of our family member, however, please when the occasion arises, please include us. Not one person — no one – responded, and I find it absurd.”
“Stop saying y’all consulted the Black trans community, we are the Black trans community,” said Mariah Lopez of the Strategic Transgender Alliance for Radical Reform. “What happened is a group of people selected who were the other people, who were important, not the ones that didn’t say what they didn’t want to hear.”
Construction on some of the park’s base elements–including the new park house and updated drainage systems–will continue pending a new plan of action for the redesign. Leslie Wright also issued an apology to the community, and vowed to welcome community input moving forward.
“The leadership of the Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation have heard the feedback and realized that the design outreach we did was simply not enough, and for that we are deeply sorry,” Wright said in an open letter dated March 9. “Our open space is extremely vital to our communities. It is important that we get this right and that we get this open to our community. With your help we are confident we can do both.”
inbama
Why has someone who admitted she arrived at 2 A.M. when the riot was well under way been turned into the George Washington of Stonewall?
GreekKeys
The Mattachine Society was more important in every way than anything that happened at the underage hustler bar with no running water known as the Stonewall Inn.
Cam
@GreekKeys
Except Stonewall got press nationwide.
Paulie P
considering she lived and died in the west village wouldn’t;gt that be a more appropriate place to have a park than Williamsburg.. if i were the family i would be more pissed at that,,,,,
James26
The chronically homeless and mentally ill Johnson was known to wear pieces of garbage as a form of jewelry, so the city dump might be the most appropriate venue.
James26
It’s really comical how this dysfunctional, mentally ill person, who suffered from psychosis and hallucinations and who was prone to intermittent violent outbursts, has been elevated to a person of great significance. Johnson did not “start” or “lead” Stonewall, and otherwise accomplished nothing of importance.
This story is also interesting because it is yet another example of a trans-related project that turns into a quagmire because of the pathological culture of trans activists. Almost every trans-focused film, TV show or other project like this one comes under their attack. In this case, the state even hired a trans artist to design the park, but that didn’t stop the attacks from coming anyway. How many scarce tax dollars are being spent on this nonsense?
GreekKeys
Can someone explain in concrete terms what exactly made Johnson a “queer activist or icon”? The $5 blowjobs? The drug-addiction? Or does wandering out onto the decaying Westside piers, tripping out of your mind and falling into the Hudson River automatically elevate you to this status in the “gay community”?
Cam
You’re giving away your agenda. Even if you don’t think she was as relevant there is no reason to completely try to dismiss everything about her.
Just being out and who she was in those days was a statement. She started group, spoke at events, etc.
I think that Marcia has for some reason been given the credit that Storme DeLarverie deserves for Stonewall, but that doesn’t mean I’d dismiss the rest of her life. You seem very focused on doing that. Care to elaborate?
James26
@Cam lol. Such an important person you didn’t even spell her name right. She co-founded 1 group which quickly failed and disbanded. This group tried to open a shelter, but it violated health and building codes and was uninhabitable. So this person did nothing for her entire life and the one minor venture she undertook with others was a complete failure. Why is this person getting a state park remodeled and named after her?
Cam
@James2
LOL!!! OMG!! I’ve told you multiple times under many of your screenames that you expose your new trolling screenames when you switch names to post suppprt of your own posts.
And yet, you just created this new James26 screename and expose it by supporting your other new screename.
Including your “imbama” screename you’ve posted 5 times on here. NOTHING enrages right wing trolls like mentioning a transperson, or a black person,…..or a woman, etc..
Openminded
The park is named in her honor, not her families’. Why does the family think they have a say so in what the park is instead of the apparent consulting already done with the trans designer? Sad how everybody gets offended when not given the amount of importance they believe they have in a matter.
This just makes it easier for the general population to claim “no matter what you do, you can’t make the gay community happy”.