Entrance to Christopher Park, part of Stonewall National Monument

Located across the street from the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, Christopher Park is the only part of Stonewall National Monument that is owned by the federal government. The City of New York donated it to the National Park Service. It is open year-round, 7 AM to 8 PM from May through October and 7 AM to 5 PM the rest of the year. The park is gated, so it is closed at other times of the day.

Various Pride flags on display at Christopher Park, part of Stonewall National Monument

Christopher Park was established in 1837. By the 1960s it had become a hangout for gay men, lesbians, drag queens, and transgender people, many of whom were young and homeless. In fact, it was this homeless faction that first gathered when the ruckus at the Stonewall Inn began in the early morning of June 28, 1969. Today the area is more upscale and a large tourist attraction, so you won’t find many, if any, homeless people in the park today.

The park is .12-acres in size, and much of it is covered in vegetation. The part accessible to the public is smaller than the front yard of a middle-class home. It is rectangular in shape. Widthwise, you could hold a conversation with a person on the other side. Lengthwise, a good softball pitcher could toss a softball underhanded from one end to the other.

Benches at Christopher Park, part of Stonewall National Monument

A wrought iron fence encircles the park, and attached to it are reproductions of historical photographs pertaining to the Stonewall Inn, gay-rights activist groups, and the Gay Liberation Day parade that was held along Christopher Street on the first anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. Other than a few modern photos of Stonewall National Monument’s dedication, all photos were taken between 1966 and 1972.

Historical photo on the fence around Christopher Park, part of Stonewall National Monument

The sculpture in Christopher Park is by artist George Segal and titled Gay Liberation. The artwork consists of a standing sculpture of a gay male couple and a sitting sculpture of a lesbian couple. The sculpture was commissioned in 1979 in time for the tenth anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising, but it took thirteen years for it to find a home. There was an initial backlash by the gay community because Segal was not gay, and the people in the sculptures were all white. Of course the non-gay community at the time didn’t like it either. In 1992, after thirteen years, the sculpture was finally installed in Christopher Park.

Gay Liberation sculpture by George Segal in Christopher Park, part of Stonewall National Monument

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