National Park Service Director visits multiple national parks in New York City and celebrates the launch of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center

News Release Date: July 5, 2022

In recognition of Pride Month and the many infrastructure improvements and partnerships underway to support national parks in the greater New York area, Director Chuck Sams along with regional National Park Service leaders recently visited several national parks in New York City. The site visits highlighted the agency's ongoing focus on inclusive interpretation, infrastructure improvements, and the power of partnerships in the nation's largest metropolitan area.

To celebrate Pride Month, they participated in a ceremonial groundbreaking for a new visitor center for Stonewall National Monument that will be operated in partnership with Pride Live, the park's primary philanthropic partner. The Stonewall uprising was a milestone for LGBTQ+ civil rights that provided momentum for a movement. The building will serve as the National Park System's first visitor center focused on the LGBTQ+ movement. NPS employees, Pride Live and other supporters also visited the Nasdaq at Times Square to ring the opening bell to mark Pride Month and the NPS' role in preserving sites that are part of the historical struggle for civil rights in America.

While in Manhattan, the director visited the African Burial Ground National Monument. The site commemorates the nation's earliest and largest African burial ground. The discovery of ancestral remains here has led to a better understanding of colonial history and enslavement in New York and helps bring to light the untold stories of the many enslaved peoples who helped build the city.

Sams also met with graduates of the class of 2022 from Stephen T. Mather Building Arts & Craftsmanship High School in Manhattan. The NPS partners with the high school to provide hands-on learning opportunities and skills-training for youth to prepare them for careers in the building and landscaping trades, with emphases on high-quality craftsmanship, the specialized building arts and the practices of historic preservation.

The director also traveled to the Statue of Liberty National Monument to view ongoing NPS efforts to address deferred maintenance and improve infrastructure. The historic Fort Wood which now serves as the base of Lady Liberty is undergoing a $11.2 million rehabilitation project. The project includes masonry repairs, repointing, and replacement of stone determined to be in poor condition. Another rehabilitation project is underway on the seawall that surrounds and protects the island, much of which is now more than 100 years old. This $33 million construction project is making masonry repairs and adding reinforcements to stabilize and strengthen the wall, in addition to making improvements to the fender system in the ferry slip.