AIDS Memorial Park Gets Its Finishing Touch

The long-planned pavilion at the AIDS Memorial at St. Vincent's Hospital Park -- aka "the AIDS Park" -- has finally been unveiled. (Photo by me!) The cement beneath the 18-foot steel canopy features circular text curated by a team of historians, artists, community members and activists led by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Tony Kushner -- a loving tribute to the many people the city lost to the plague, although a giant high-heel might have been more fun!

Inside the NYC AIDS Memorial at St. Vincent's Hospital Park

 

   Such a lovely space across from the former home of St. Vincent's Hospital, where far too many years of the AIDS epidemic played out. The park isn't quite done yet -- I think a trellis is to come -- but it's open to the public and is a beautiful place to spend an afternoon, and to reflect. 

Final Design for St. Vincent's AIDS Memorial Unveiled

Via Popnography:

The streamlined design will feature an 18-foot steel canopy as the dramatic gateway to the new St. Vincent's Hospital Park in the West Village. As it's described in a press release, the memorial also will feature "a central granite fountain, granite benches, and a granite paving surface carved with educational and commemorative text. The text will be curated by a team of historians, artists, community members, and activists led by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Tony Kushner."

I think I need more information before I can decide if I like it or not. Right now it just looks like a giant, garden-variety abstract sculpture rather than a tribute to the thousands and thousands of New Yorkers who lived and died during the worst plague of our time.