NYC & Company Facilitates Inaugural Five-Borough Lighting
Project Rainbow and Year of Pride Commemorate the Global Event and the Stonewall Uprising’s 50th Anniversary
June 19, 2019—NYC & Company, the official destination marketing organization and convention and visitors bureau for New York City, is facilitating rainbow lightings across all five boroughs—a first for the organization—in celebration of the queer communityand the first WorldPride in the United States. Throughout the month of June, approximately 4 million visitors in addition to locals will witness an awe-inspiring expression of LGBTQ+ representation and acceptanceacross the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island, aligned to the monumental celebration and the Stonewall Uprising’s 50th anniversary.
“New York City is the birthplace of the modern LGBTQ rights movement and has played a significant role in the progress the global movement has made. This month our City will host WorldPride to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall uprising. Lighting our skyline will remind LGBTQ people around the world that New York City will always be a beacon of hope and a place to call home, “said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“Hosting the first-ever US WorldPride during the 50th anniversary of Stonewall will be a profound and historic moment for the LGBTQ+ community in New York City and around the world,” said Fred Dixon, NYC & Company’s president and CEO. “We are so grateful to all of our lighting partners for commemorating this significant milestone and helping us welcome as many as4 million travelers who will experience our city’s diversity, inclusivity and vibrant spirit.”
*Below are the 18partners activating LGBTQ+-inspired rainbow lightings throughout June, with projected dates and boroughsincluded:
· Barclays Center: June 24-26;June 29-30. Brooklyn
· Bloomberg Headquarters: June 30. Manhattan
· The Bronx Borough President’s Office: June 25–30. The Bronx
· City Hall. June 10- 30. Manhattan
· Coney Island Parachute Jump in cooperation with Luna Park NYC: June 26–30. Brooklyn
· Empire Outlets: Every evening through June 30. Staten Island
· Empire State Building: June 30. Manhattan
· Helmsley Building: June 24–30. Manhattan
· Hutchinson Metro Center: Every evening through June 30. The Bronx
· Javits Center’s Crystal Palace: June 26–30. Manhattan
· Madison Square Garden: June 30. Manhattan
· One Bryant Park: June 28–30. Manhattan
· One World Trade Center: Base, June 26–30; Spire, June 28–30. Manhattan
· 151 West 42: June 28–30. Manhattan
· Pershing Square-42nd Street Viaduct (Grand Central Partnership & MTA Metro-North):June 26–30. Manhattan
· Pier 17:June 26–30. Manhattan
· Resorts World Casino New York City: June 30. Queens
· Weylin, together with Brooktech: June 26–30. Brooklyn
*Accurate at time of publishing, subject to change. Email for appendix with specific timelines.
The five-borough lighting is part of NYC & Company’s larger destination marketing initiative Project Rainbow. This unique effort empowers member businesses to unify their branding in celebration of WorldPride and in solidarity with all that it represents. Attractions, bus tour operators, cultural organizations, entertainment entities, hotels, restaurants, transportation providersand more received creative assets to include on consumer-facing materials and recommendations on how to show support during WorldPride.
Project Rainbow will be amplified throughout June by supporters across the five boroughs, including but not limited to: NYC Ferry in cooperation with the Economic Development Corporation; MTA with limited-edition MetroCards; Barclays Center, which hosts the WorldPride Opening Ceremony on June 26;The Metropolitan Museum of Art; Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden; Staten Island Museum; The Bronx Beer Hall; LaGuardia Airport Terminal B; Downtown Brooklyn Partnership; The Tour at NBC Studios; Hornblower Cruises & Events; Madison Avenue Business Improvement District; The Alliance for Downtown New York; 49 cooperative Hilton hotels citywide, Wicked and more.Readers interested in following and joining the online conversation celebrating the LGBTQ+ community in NYC throughout the month of June can use hashtag #NYCProud, tag @nycgo and mention Project Rainbow in the caption on social media, or submit photos for the WorldPride social wall here.
Another NYC & Company marketing and destination management effort connected to the festivities is a partnership with six Broadway shows—Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Chicago, Come From Away, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, Hadestown and King Kong—plus Rock Steady Farm on the Proudly Sustainable campaign. Each participating production created a thematic message to encourage responsible travel to NYC during WorldPride and beyond. The creative is currently displayed on LinkNYC screens across the five boroughs.
Among other efforts, NYC & Company has dubbed 2019 the Year of Pride to spotlight exhibitions, events and activities at cultural organizations across the five boroughs before, during and after the official events in June. The Communications team also traveled the world and the nation promoting WorldPride at 15 press conferences over the past year. The destination’s recognition of the LGBTQ+ community extends throughout 2019 and always.
For information on WorldPride–specific events, visit nycgo.com/worldpride.
For all things LGBTQ+ in NYC, visit nycgo.com/lgbtq.
For more information on NYC’s Year of Pride celebrations, see the corresponding press release here.
