Christopher Street Pier

The Christopher Street Pier is actually a group of piers where people of all stripes hang out during the summer months. It is also an oasis for LGBTQ people, most youth of color. I've been coming here for a decade and I love it. There are families, seniors, joggers, sunbathers, a restaurant, and a bike path. 

Thirty years ago the pier was a dilapidated dump with rotting piers and buildings falling down. Gay people came here to 'cruise' and congregate. It could be dangerous at night with drugs, prostitution and crime a problem.

LGBTQ people flocked here because it was one of the few places where they could be themselves. At night time it was dangerous at night but they still came because of the freedom they had. It was also here at Stonewall veteran Marsha P. Johnson was found floating near the pier a short time after the pride parade in 1992.     

Yes, the piers have been repaired and modernized.It's also part of LGBT history of New York. There are some who wished we would be invisible and go away but we not going anywhere.