LGBTQ beach area in New York may be demolished
2022.10.12 06:21
LGBTQ beach area in New York may be demolished
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – People who go to LGBTQ beaches struggle with New York City’s plan to demolish a tuberculosis hospital that has stood as a community landmark for a long time.
“KNOW YOUR POWER” and “QUEER TRANS POWER” are emblazoned on the exterior walls. The broken windows of Neponsit Beach Hospital, which was once a nursing home but hasn’t been there since 1998, are covered in rust from the cooling units. A queer icon that was found dead in the nearby waters is honored by a shrine on the chain-link fence.
The shabby structure in front of a beach in the borough of Queens would be destroyed by the city’s plans to build a park there.
The LGBTQ community has long welcomed that area of Jacob Riis Park, where naked people sunbathe and hold events like memorials for Ms. Colombia, also known as Oswaldo Gomez, who is thought to have drowned nearby in 2018.
The region was transformed into a fabled haven thanks to novels written by LGBTQ authors like Audre Lorde and Joan Nestle.
Victoria Cruz, 76, who has been visiting the beach since the 1960s, stated:
“We would like to be assured that we will continue to have this space, which has always been our space, where people from the queer community always end up.”
“This beach belongs to the people. And we are the people,” Cruz, also known as the “Queen of Riis,” declared.
However, residents of the area believe that an unsightly health hazard contributes to the isolation and exclusivity of the LGBTQ community in that section of the beach.
Jenna Tipaldo, a nearby 25-year-old PhD student, stated, “The community is concerned about the remediation of vermin and asbestos and whatever else is in there.”
The site’s owner, the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, has met with LGBTQ community members and neighbors to hear their concerns.
In an email, agency deputy press secretary Stephanie Buhle stated:
“We will continue to engage these communities to learn how we can accommodate their concerns while ensuring public safety.”
Buhle has not responded to inquiries for additional information, and the public hospitals agency has not made any specific plans known for the location.
However, Joann Ariola, the city councilwoman whose district includes the building, stated in an email this week that surveys and other preparations for demolition are in progress and that a park has been proposed.
The public hospitals agency told Reuters by email this week that it wants to finish major demolition before the beach season in 2023, but it hasn’t said when.
Casey Morrissey, a bookseller in Brooklyn, said they don’t mind the demolition as long as the LGBTQ community doesn’t lose the beach.
“It has served as a haven for us. During a visit with their partner, Morrissey stated:
“We just come here without planning and always find friends.” These are the few spaces we have.”
