NY Gov. Cuomo Unveils Monument for The LGBTQ Community

NEW YORK (NEWS10) — Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled the design for New York’s official monument honoring the LGBT community Sunday morning.

By Kevin O'Toole

Page from News10.com

Located at the western edge of Greenwich Village in Hudson River Park, the monument honors the LGBT community, those lost in the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting in June 2016, and “victims of hate, intolerance, and violence.”

Governor Cuomo established the LGBT Memorial Commission in 2016 with the mission to design and build the new memorial. The 10-member commission issued a request for proposals, and weighed the submissions based on a number of criteria including, creativity, originality, quality of artistic composition, and constructability.

The commission named Anthony Goicolea as the artist for the monument.

“This monument will serve as a communal space filled with light, color, and hope where the visitors can sit, mourn, love, and remember for years to come,” said Goicolea.

The governor’s office described the monument:

The site specific design works in harmony with the existing attributes of Hudson River Park and promotes thought and reflection while encouraging people to unite in a communal environment.  It will feature nine modified boulders, some of which are bisected with a clear, laminated, borosilicate-glass with refractory components that act as a prism to create subtle rainbow patterns on the surrounding lawn and nearby objects.

Governor Cuomo says the monument will serve as an enduring symbol of the role New Yorkers play in building a fairer, more just world.

“From Stonewall to marriage equality, New York has always been a beacon for justice and we will never waiver in our commitment to the LGBT community and to creating a more just and inclusive society,” said Governor Cuomo. “This new monument will stand up for those values for generations to come.”