New York City on Friday unveiled the
biggest Pride flag in the city's history.
The concrete steps at Roosevelt
Island's Four Freedoms Park were painted in rainbow hues to celebrate
Pride, resulting in a massive 12-foot-by-100-foot display.
Four Freedoms State Park is dedicated
to Franklin D. Roosevelt's four essential freedoms: freedom of speech
and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom
from fear.
FDR's great-granddaughter Julia Ireland
presented the staircase.
“I'm inspired by how forward thinking
the four freedoms were in 1841,” she told NBC
News, “and I would like to think that if my great grandparents
were alive today, they would include LGBTQ+ rights among those for
which they advocated and fought.”
In a statement on the park's website,
the Four Freedoms Park Conservatory wrote: “As one of the nation's
only monuments dedicated to essential human freedoms, FDR Four
Freedoms State Park's Pride flag installation serves as both a symbol
of solidarity with the LGBTQ community and a reminder of the
collective progress still needed to achieve these four freedoms for
all.”
The installation will be on display
throughout the month.