New virtual sessions scheduled

Wednesday session to be held online

The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) invites participation in public design workshops for Marsha P. Johnson State Park in Brooklyn. The series of planned workshops has been expanded to include three newly scheduled virtual sessions. The workshops will help develop a shared vision for the commemorative design and interpretive elements to celebrate the life of Marsha P. Johnson and the LGBTQ+ movement.

Due to expected inclement weather, the workshops originally scheduled for Wednesday at the park will now be held online. Log-in information for all virtual workshops follows:

Link: https://zoom.us/j/95789928808?pwd=aWR6cE92TWxseThscVNrb1B0c25sdz09

Meeting ID: 957 8992 8808

Passcode: 519844

In-person workshops will be held at the park, weather permitting, at 90 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211. Workshops will be broken into hourly segments. Participants do not need to attend the entire workshop, but should join at the top of the hour. Each hour segment will include a brief introduction, followed by small-group break-out sessions, and a wrap-up.

Below is the updated schedule:

Initial public listening session:

Wednesday, March 31 – 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 7 pm. Virtual meeting.

Saturday, April 3 – 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 7 pm. In person meeting.

Monday, April 5 – 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 7 pm. In person meeting.

Public design review:

Tuesday, April 20 – 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 7 pm. In person meeting.

Saturday, April 24 – 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 7 pm. In person meeting.

Monday, April 26 – 6 to 9 pm. Virtual meeting.

Final public review:

Saturday, May 1 – 10 am to 1 pm and 3 to 7 pm. In person meeting.

Monday, May 3 – 6 to 9 pm. Virtual meeting.

Marsha P. Johnson, formerly East River State Park, was dedicated to her namesake in August 2020. Known as an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights and HIV/AIDS treatment, Marsha was a prominent leader of the Stonewall Uprising of 1969 and later established a shelter in New York City to support LGBTQ young people rejected by their families. She was born August 24, 1945 and died in 1992 at age 46.

She was a founding member of the Gay Liberation Front, an activist with ACT UP, and a co-founder of S.T.A.R., along with Sylvia Rivera. Born in New Jersey, Marsha moved to Greenwich Village after graduating from high school. She turned her hardships and her struggles with mental illness into activism for others, participating in demonstrations with ACT UP and raising awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City. 

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 individual state parks, historic sites, recreational trails, and boat launches, which are visited by 78 million people annually. For more information on these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit parks.ny.gov connect on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.

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