In 1981, a crisis emerges.
In 2011, an idea is born.
In 2016, the New York City AIDS Memorial opens.
Thirty-five years after the first cases of AIDS are documented, the New York City AIDS Memorial at St. Vincent’s Triangle opens to the public on World AIDS Day 2016, honoring the over 100,000 New Yorkers lost to the epidemic and those who fought beside them.
Since its dedication, the Memorial has evolved into a dynamic, multidisciplinary cultural institution.
Centering HIV/AIDS as a lens to explore history and the communities most deeply impacted, the New York City AIDS Memorial is a beloved site for engaging public art and educational programming, and a highly-visible and vital platform for reflection and dialogue.
3M+ VISITORS
Since our dedication, the New York City AIDS Memorial has been one of two landmark stops, along with the legendary Stonewall Inn, on the NYC Pride Parade each June and a must-visit for tourists and locals interested in LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS history. Each year, we estimate that over 300,000 visitors spend time in New York City AIDS Memorial Park at St. Vincent’s Triangle or at one of our many off-site programs and events.
260+ ARTISTS
Since our dedication, the New York City AIDS Memorial has been one of two landmark stops, along with the legendary Stonewall Inn, on the NYC Pride Parade each June and a must-visit for tourists and locals interested in LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS history. Each year, we estimate that over 300,000 visitors spend time in New York City AIDS Memorial Park at St. Vincent’s Triangle or at one of our many off-site programs and events.
50+ PROGRAMS
Since our dedication in 2016, over 50 major programs have taken place at the New York City AIDS Memorial or with our many community partners, like the LGBT Community Center, Housing Works, School of Visual Arts, or Whitney Museum, from sculptural installations to dance performances, punk concerts to string quartets, film screenings, drag shows, cabaret, poetry readings, quilt-making workshops, theater productions, lectures, fashion shows, storytelling sessions, DJ sets, and candlelit vigils.
2B+ IMPRESSIONS
The New York City AIDS Memorial’s exhibitions and programs are regularly featured in leading national and international print and broadcast media including: NBC, NPR, The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Art Newspaper, ArtNet News, and the Guardian. Since 2016, we estimate the New York City AIDS Memorial has garnered over 2 billion media impressions
New York City AIDS Memorial programs have garnered a wide range of exemplary press and media coverage, receiving over 2 billion media impressions:
Previous funding for the New York City AIDS Memorial has come through a wide breadth of philanthropic and corporate partnerships:
“At long last, a public, permanent, and very visible that acknowledges...that something beautiful happened in terms of the LGBT responding advocacy and caregiving.”
—NBC NEWS
“All told, more than 100,000 New York men, women, and children have died of AIDS, and the memorial is built in their names. But it reminds us, too, as all memorials do, of how much has already been forgotten.”
—NEW YORK MAGAZINE
“And then there’s the grace note of Walt Whitman, whose ‘Song of Myself’ has been inscribed on the granite paving stones under the steel canopy, in an installation by the artist Jenny Holzer...It is astounding to see the words of the great bard of New York’s streets carved on the street itself. You want to kiss the ground.”
—THE NEW YORKER
“May this beautiful memorial become a place for memory, for healing, for education, and for unity in our continuing effort to achieve a world without AIDS.”
—SIR ELTON JOHN