President Barack Obama announced Friday that he was designating the Stonewall Inn as a National Monument.
The President said that the Stonewall National Monument would tell the sage of the struggle for gay and lesbian equality. It commemorates the reaction to a 1969 police raid on the gay bar in Greenwich Village. The resulting riots sparked an rebellion that's widely seen as the genesis of the gay rights movement.
The monument will cover more than seven and a half acres in the Village,including the bar, a park and surrounding streets.
The designation comes days before the annual Gay Pride celebration. At a press conference detailing NYPD Pride Parade safety measures, or Commissioner William Bratton declined to apologize for the violent police raid almost 50 years ago. "Out of that terrible experience came so much great," he said.
The parade is on Sunday.
Source: wnyc.org