The annual New York City Pride March is just weeks away, but an entire month of Pride festivities — from neighborhood events to borough-wide Prides — are planned in the weeks leading up to the main event.
On Friday, June 2, the Sunnyside section of Queens will host the second annual edition of Sunnyside Pride in Lowery Plaza at 40th Street and Queens Boulevard from 6 to 9 p.m. While the focus is on Sunnyside, the event also intends to encompass Woodside, Long Island City, Astoria, and western Queens. There will be a 6 p.m. rally followed by a march under the 7 Train through the parking area to Bliss Plaza at 46th Street. There will be a drag story hour with performances, music, and dancers, as well as a queer open street market with more than a dozen groups and artists.
The first weekend of the month most notably features Queens Pride, which is now officially billed as The New Queens Pride. Queens Pride is scheduled to begin at noon on June 4 at 37th Avenue and 89th Street in Jackson Heights.
The Queens Pride March will proceed along 37th Avenue to 75th Street, where there will be a multicultural festival with entertainment stages alongside countless tents and vendors offering food, resources, and more. The festival, centrally located at 37th Avenue and 75th Street, begins at 11 a.m. and continues until 6 p.m.
Queens Pride takes place on the same day as another — albeit smaller — local Pride event, GayRidge, which is held at Owl’s Head Park in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn. GayRidge will kick off at noon on June 4 with entertainment from DJ Mama Kim, drag musician 69 Degrees, and others.
There will also be rock painting, face painting, field games, and more activities, along with picnics and performances. GayRidge’s website asks attendees to bring blankets and their favorite South Brooklyn takeout to enjoy.
On June 8, the Brooklyn Cyclones — the Mets’ single-A minor league affiliate in Coney Island — will host a Pride Night from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Up in the big leagues, Mets and Yankees are also marking Pride Month. The Mets are hosting a Pride Night — complete with a Pride Fan giveaway — on June 16 during the team’s 7:10 p.m. matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals, while the Yankees are planning a “Legacy of Pride” initiative featuring an on-field ceremony before the team’s June 21 game against the Seattle Mariners. The initiative features a special ticket that includes a Yankees hat with the colors of the Progress Pride Flag, a hot dog, and a drink. The Legacy of Pride ticket offer is also available for the Yankees’ games taking place on June 6, 7, 8, 20, 22, 24, and 25.
Between baseball outings, New Yorkers can return to Brooklyn for Brooklyn Pride, which is slated to take place on June 10. Brooklyn Pride begins the day at 10 a.m. with an LGBTQIA+ 5K run/walk, which brings hundreds of runners to Prospect Park for a 3.1-mile scenic workout. The 5K will be followed by the Brooklyn Pride Festival, which is held around Fourth Street Plaza and Fifth Avenue. The festival will have a family fun zone with arts and crafts; a main stage with hip-hop, rock, drag, and more; and numerous vendors.
As the sun sets, attention shifts to Brooklyn Pride’s 7:30 p.m. twilight parade, which will move along Fifth Avenue from Lincoln Place to Ninth Street. Brooklyn Pride tends to bring out a range of community organizations as well as Brooklynites of all ages who flood the streets to commemorate Pride.
On Sunday, June 11, several LGBTQ bars in Astoria are leading a neighborhood Pride event. The festivities — complete with all-day drink specials, prizes, and giveaways — will begin at Albatross at 3619 24th Avenue before moving on to Kween at 34-10 30th Avenue and Icon at 31-84 33rd Street. There will be a 1 p.m. pre-march party, a 4 p.m. show, and a 6 p.m. march to Icon from Kween. There will be an 8 p.m. show and a 10 p.m. afterparty.
On June 12, folks will gather for a somber event that has become an integral part of Pride Month in New York City. Gays Against Guns is leading an annual vigil to remember those who lost their lives at the Pulse Nightclub in 2016. The event — which will mark seven years since the tragedy — will be held at 6 p.m. at Stonewall.
In The Bronx, Destination Tomorrow is hosting an annual Bronx Pride event on June 17, though details are still being finalized. Also, NYC Pride is also hosting the annual rally on June 17 at 4:30 p.m., but the event website notes that the location has yet to be determined.
One day later, Folsom Street East — the New York City version of San Francisco’s popular fetish festival — is scheduled to take place. Folsom Street East will be held on June 18 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Christopher Street between Washington and Weehawken Streets.
The final weekend of Pride Month is jam-packed with events for LGBTQ New Yorkers in Manhattan. On Friday night, June 23, folks can join in on the annual Drag March from Tompkins Square Park to the Stonewall Inn. People will gather in Tompkins Square Park around 7 p.m. and begin marching at 8 p.m.
The following day, Harlem Pride is hosting a day-long event on June 24 from noon to 6 p.m. at 12th Avenue and West 133rd Street, where attendees can find vendors, music, dancing, food, and entertainment.
NYC Pride — which runs the main Pride March on Pride Sunday — also hosts a series of related Pride events throughout the month of June, including Youth Pride on June 24 at noon.
A day later, make your way to the 31st annual Dyke March — a grassroots protest march held without sponsors or permits — as marchers make their way from Bryant Park to Washington Square Park on Fifth Avenue. The march begins at 5 p.m. on June 25. Another event slated for June 25 is NYC Pride’s pricey Pride Island event, which will be headlined by Christina Aguilera at Brooklyn Army Terminal. Pride Island begins at 2 p.m.
NYC Pride’s slate of events on Pride Sunday begins with the PrideFest street fair at 11 a.m. in Greenwich Village. The NYC Pride March — featuring grand marshals Billy Porter, Yasmin Benoit, AC Dumlao, Hope Giselle, and Randy Wicker — will begin at noon at 25th Street and Fifth Avenue. The march will head south along Fifth Avenue, shift west on Eighth Street, cross Sixth Avenue, continue on Christopher Street, and turn north on Seventh Avenue before concluding at 16th Street and Seventh Avenue.
Meanwhile, the Reclaim Pride Coalition’s Queer Liberation March — which, like the Dyke March, does not seek permits to march and disavows corporate influence — will kick off with a rally at Foley Square at 2 p.m. on Pride Sunday before proceeding through lower Manhattan and concluding at Washington Square Park.
