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Queens Pride Parade 2025: The start to NYC's Pride Month
The Brief
Pride month in New York City kicks off with the New Queens Pride Parade and Festival, the second-oldest pride parade in the city.
The 33rd annual Queens Pride parade kicks off today, June 1, at 12 p.m.
The parade will march down 37th Avenue, from 89th Street to 75th Street, in Jackson Heights, and it will feature over 140 groups.
QUEENS - The New Queens Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival is kicking off the month in New York City.
What we know
The 33rd annual New Queens Pride parade kicks off today, June 1, at 12 p.m.
The parade will march down 37th Avenue, from 89th Street to 75th Street, in Jackson Heights, and it will feature over 140 groups.
According to the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT), these streets will be closed for the parade and festival:
Formation: 89th Street, between 35th Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue
Route: 37th Avenue, between 89th Street and 75th Street
Dispersal: 75th Street, between 37th Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue
Festival: 75th through 76th Street, between 37th Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue and 37th Road, between 74th Street and 77th Street
These streets will be closed at the discretion of the New York Police Department in Queens.
There are three Grand Marshals this year – these are individuals that are recognized as ceremonial leaders of the parade.
Andry José Hernández Romero, the honorary Grand Marshal of the parade, is a gay man from Venezuela who was deported by the Trump administration after seeking asylum in the United States. Romero fled Venezuela after facing threats for being a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Romero was deported to El Salvador and is now detained in the maximum security prison CECOT, or the Terrorism Confinement Center.
Assembly Member Catalina Cruz, one of the two other Grand Marshals, represents Assembly District 39, which encompasses Corona, Elmhurst and Jackson Heights, as well as parts of Middle Village and Rego Park.
The last Grand Marshal is Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas, who represents Assembly District 34, which includes Astoria, Corona, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights and Woodside.
The Pride Festival will be held at the intersection of 37th Road and 75th Streetin Queens, Jackson Heights, and it will run from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
The Queens Pride Parade was formed in response to two events.
One catalyst was Julio Rivera's murder in 1990 – Rivera, a 29-year-old Jackson Heights bartender, wasattacked and killed by members of a local gang because he was gay.
The other was the public outcry to the Children of the Rainbow Curriculum, created by the New York City Department of Education in 1991 to teach children tolerance towards diverse communities.
The original Queens Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival was held on June 6, 1993, and an estimated 10,000 people were in attendance. The parade inspired the formation of pride marches in Brooklyn and the Bronx, and is the second-oldest pride march in New York City.
The Source
This article includes reporting from the New Queens Pride Parade and Festival website, as well as information from the websites of the New York City Department of Transportation and a few New York government officials.
