First NY State Park Named For An LGBTQ Icon Will Be In Brooklyn

NEW YORK CITY — The first New York state park named in honor of an LGBTQ person will be in Brooklyn, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Williamsburg's East River State Park will be renamed after the gay liberation movement leader Marsha P. Johnson, Cuomo announced at a Human Rights Campaign gala Saturday.

Johnson, who passed away in 1992, played prominent role in the Stonewall Uprising, advocated for AIDS patients and modeled for Andy Warhol, according to her New York Times obituary.

“Marsha had this joie de vivre, a capacity to find joy in a world of suffering.” said Susan Stryker, a University of Arizona professor, told the Times.

“She channeled it into political action, and did it with a kind of fierceness, grace and whimsy, with a loopy, absurdist reaction to it all.”

Johnson's legacy will also be honored with a monument at Greenwich Village's Ruth Wittenberg Triangle, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in May.

Cuomo linked his decision to an uptick in hate crimes spurred by race, religion and sexual identity.

"We are fighting back, and we will continue achieving progress and showing the rest of the nation the way forward," Cuomo said.

"And we will name the first State park after an LGBTQ person and we will name it after Marsha P. Johnson - an icon of the community."