Artifact: The A-Train

Where to find it: Metropolis on the Move 

On the sign on the side of the A-train, you will see its downtown terminus—Rockaway Park, Queens. Adjacent to Rockaway Park, is Jacob Riis Park. The beach at Jacob Riis Park, now known as the People’s Beach, was redesigned under the direction of NYC Parks Commissioner Robert Moses in the 1930s. The redesign focused on the beach’s easy accessibility by both public transportation and cars, and it was considered a “more democratic” version of Jones Beach.

Above Left: A group of Lesbian women at Riis Park, mid 1960s. (Courtesy Lesbian Herstory Archives)

Above Right: Emma Van Cott (front) and Ernestine Eckstein, leader of the NY chapter of the first national Lesbian organization “Daughters Of Bilitis,” at Riis Park, 1965. (Courtesy Lesbian Herstory Archives)

In the 1940s, the easternmost end of Jacob Riis Park Beach became a destination for gay men, and in the 1950s, lesbian women were also drawn to the area. By the 1960s, the beach drew an increasingly diverse group of LGBTQ+ beachgoers, but there were also growing reports of harassment of gay beachgoers by police. In 1971, the Gay Activist Alliance, one of the gay rights organizations that formed in the wake of the Stonewall Uprising, held a voter registration drive at the beach. Today, the eastern section of Jacob Riis Beach remains a destination for LGBTQ+ beachgoers as a queer-friendly space.