On Staten Island Last Week: “Queer Happened Here” Author Explores Local LGBTQ+ Landmarks At Alice Austen House
On Staten Island Last Week: “Queer Happened Here” Author Explores Local LGBTQ+ Landmarks At Alice Austen House
Editor’s note: See our initial announcement of this event among others happening this month at AAH here. You can also view our slideshow of fashion designer in residence Daveed Baptiste at Municipal Arts Society. Below, view a slideshow of photos from this event:
On June 4, 2025, the Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) and the Pride Center of Staten Island gathered at the Alice Austen House Museum for an Enduring Culture Spotlight event. This interactive event celebrated the queer histories of Staten Island, from the legacy of barrier-breaking photographer Alice Austen (1866-1952) to the stories of Staten Island’s LGBTQ+ communities today. Attendees took a guided tour of the museum grounds using polaroid cameras to capture their identities and memories in relation to the space. Afterwards, we shared and reflected on how these photographs continue the long tradition of documenting personal histories to tell a broader story about community and place.
Guests Joined Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) and the Pride Center of Staten Island on Wednesday, June 4, 10:00 AM-1:00 PM at the Alice Austen House Museum for an Enduring Culture Spotlight event.
This interactive event celebrated the queer histories of Staten Island, from the legacy of barrier-breaking photographer Alice Austen (1866-1952) to the stories of Staten Island’s LGBTQ+ communities today. Together, we will take a guided tour of the museum grounds using polaroid cameras to capture our identities and memories in relation to the space. Afterwards, we will share and reflect on how these photographs continue the long tradition of documenting personal histories to tell a broader story about community and place. Refreshments will be provided.
The following event occurred during this last week:
On Wednesday, June 25 from 5-7PM, at Municipal Art Society + Housing Works book talk, writer Marc Zinaman discussed his new book, Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC’s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places, with Teddy Pecora and Michele Saunders. The group talked all things queer nightlife, highlighting the histories of some of Manhattan’s most beloved bars and clubs.
Written by Marc Zinaman with a foreword by Peppermint, Queer Happened Here is “a unique visual history of New York City’s queer spaces documents the evolution of LGBTQ+ culture, community, and activism within Manhattan’s dynamic landscape over the course of a century, spanning from 1920 to 2020” (Prestel). Come by on Wednesday, June 25 to hear the group talk all things queer nightlife.
Image Credit – MAS
About Queer Happened Here: 100 Years of NYC’s Landmark LGBTQ+ Places
New York’s LGBTQ+ history is everywhere, but rarely is it visibly documented. Aside from current venues and a handful of landmark plaques, important queer spaces from the city’s past have otherwise been forgotten about, or remain entirely hidden.
This multifaceted book joyfully and poignantly explores a century of LGBTQ+ gathering spaces across Manhattan through hundreds of historic photographs, flyers, posters, club membership cards, magazine spreads, and more. Author Marc Zinaman’s carefully researched, engaging text includes first-person accounts and little-known facts that range from the humorous to the heartbreaking.
From 1920s bathhouses, drag balls, and the ascent of homophobia during World War II, to the protests and parades of the 1960s and 1970s, to the horrors of AIDS; from the vibrant nightlife scene of the 1990s to 2018’s Rainbow Wave, which saw a record number of queer elected officials in the US, to the rise of geosocial dating apps, every major milestone of LGBTQ+ social history is thoughtfully documented.
The result is a powerful and compelling testament to the endurance of queer culture, and an important contribution to its preservation and celebration. Learn more about the book >
All images in the video are credit – Genevieve Wagner
Banner Image: Event announcement. Image Credit – MAS
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