East Midtown To Host Kick-Off Pride Month Reception

MIDTOWN, NY — East Midtown is kicking off Pride Month with a reception open to the neighborhood replete with cocktails, refreshments and an a cappella performance.

A June 1 reception organized by East Midtown Partnership at SUNY Global Center (116 East 55th St.) will start the celebration of Pride. It's the first time the group has held a Pride month reception since 2019.

The event starts at 6 p.m., with a performance from the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus’s a cappella band, Tonewall, followed by cocktails and refreshments on the third-floor outdoor terrace.

The reception will kick off a month of programming by the East Midtown Partnership for Pride month, including literary readings, networking receptions, concerts and more.

On Monday, June 19, the Gay Men's Chorus will perform at Park Avenue's Christ Church for a special Juneteenth concert showcasing the Black members of the chorus.

A reading series featuring favorite LGBTQ+ writers reading their works, called the OUTspoken Reading Series, will take place at the Society of Illustrators and other spots in East Midtown.

Co-hosted by the Publishing Triangle, the series will feature authors like Tom Cardamone, Wo Chan, Mary Burns, Kathy Anderson, Emanuel Xavier, Morgan Adams and Carol Rosenfeld.

And on June 13, the series will host a special paperback publication launch event for Mecca Jamilah Sullivan's much-lauded "Big Girl" back at the SUNY Global Center.

The East Midtown Partnership will also display eight panels from the historic, and still-growing, AIDS Memorial Quilt inside the lobbies of several buildings, including Hotel57, Central Synagogue and 59E59 Theaters.

Additionally, at 59E59 Theaters will be two LGBTQ+ plays, Orlando, a play by Lucy Roslyn which runs from May 23 to June 11, and Foxes, by Dexter Flanders, running from June 1 to July 2.

And finally, the East Midtown Partnership will host an informational and networking event with SUNY Pride and the New York chapter of the National LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce on June 15 at the SUNY Global Center.

To learn more about the events and to read even more about the Pride plans for East Midtown, click here.