Christopher Street (Manhattan)
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Christopher Street is a street in the West Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan, and was at the center of New York's gay rights movement in the late 1970s. To this day the street serves as a symbol of gay pride.
The street was once called Skinner Road after Colonel William Skinner, the son-in-law of Admiral Peter Warren who once owned much of the land in the West Village. The street received its current name in 1799, when the land was acquired by Charles Christopher Amos. See also Charles Street, and Amos Street.[1][2]
Christopher Street is the first stop in Manhattan on the 33rd Street Line of the Port Authority Trans-Hudson rapid transit railroad. The PATH identifies Christopher Street station with a large single capital 'C'. The street also has a station on the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line (1 2) at Christopher Street-Sheridan Square.
Sheridan Square Park is decorated with sculptures by George Segal, called Gay Pride, to commemorate the gay rights traditions of the place.
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[edit] Notable residents of Christopher Street
- e. e. cummings, poet (lived at 11 Christopher in 1918).[3]
- Vincent Canade, artist (lived at 86 Christopher in the 1930s)
- Harlan Ellison, author (lived at 95 Christopher in the 1960s)
- Dick Francis, science fiction illustrator (once lived at 105 Christopher)
- Ben M. Hall, author (The Best Remaining Seats) and founder of the Theatre Historical Society of America (once lived at 181 Christopher where he was murdered in 1970)
- Sally Kirkland, actress (once lived at 84 Christopher)
- Dawn Powell, author (lived at 95 Christopher in 1963-65).[4]
- Amy Sedaris, actress and comedian
- Linda Solomon, NY editor of New Musical Express and Village Voice columnist (lived at 95 Christopher 1960-99)
- Ted White, author-editor (once lived at 105 Christopher)
- Theodor Adorno, (philosopher and cultural theorist) (once lived at 45 Christopher Street)
- Felipe Montejo, lawyer (lived at 95 Christopher Street since 1997)
- John Balfe, Irish screenwriter and journalist (lived at 16 Christopher in 2004)
- William Poole, member of the New York City gang, the Bowery Boys
- Yoko Ono (lived at 87 Christopher)
[edit] Christopher Street as gay icon
Christopher Street is the site of the Stonewall Inn, the bar whose patrons started the 1969 Stonewall riots that are widely seen as the birth of the gay liberation movement. The Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee formed to commemorate the first anniversary of that event, the beginning of the international tradition of a late-June event to celebrate gay pride. [1] The annual gay pride festivals in Berlin, Cologne, and other German cities are known as Christopher Street Day or "CSD".
Christopher Street magazine, which began publication in July 1976 was, for many years, one of the most respected gay magazines in the U.S., until it folded in December 1995.
Near Sixth Avenue, Christopher Street intersects with a short, winding street, named by a 150-year-old coincidence, Gay Street.
"Christopher Street" is both a song and the main location of the musical Wonderful Town.
[edit] References
- ^ " GREENWICH VILLAGE: GLORYING IN ITS DIFFERENTNESS; For 300 Years, A World Apart By Lawrence Block; Lawrence Block, the author of the Matt Scudder and Bernie Rhodenbarr mystery series, frequently sets scenes of his novels in Greenwich Village.", The New York Times, November 20, 1988. Accessed October 7, 2007. "A portion of the West Village was carved from a farm owned by a man named Charles Christopher Amos, and his three names were parceled out among three of the new streets."
- ^ Moscow, Henry. The Street Book; Fordham University Press, 1978.
- ^ Sawyer-Lauðcanno, Christopher. "E.E. Cummings: A Biography", p. 135, Google Books. Accessed October 7, 2007. "On March 2 he moved out of the Brevoort Hotel, where he had been staying, and took up residence at 11 Christopher Street, in the West Village."
- ^ "Dawn Powell, Novelist, Is Dead; Author of Witty, Satirical Books; Middle Class Was the Object of Her Stinging Fiction-13 Books Published", The New York Times, November 16, 1965. "Miss Powell, who had resided in Greenwich Village most of her life, maintained an apartment at 95 Christopher Street, where she did most of her writing in recent years."
[edit] External links
- Christopher Street (Manhattan) is at coordinates Coordinates:
