NYC’s largest Pride flag will transform Four Freedoms Park

The monumental staircase at Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park is getting a rainbow makeover for Pride.

From June 14-30, the massive steps of the Roosevelt Island state park will transform into a 12 by 100 foot rainbow-hued flag in honor of WorldPride, the annual celebration of the LGBTQ community.

Located on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island, the park is the last work of iconic 20th-century architect Louis Kahn and celebrates the Four Freedoms—speech, worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear—declared by President Roosevelt’s famed 1941 State of the Union speech. The park’s legacy as a monument to freedoms makes it an ideal spot to honor the LGBTQ community and shine a light on its continued fight for universal human rights, the park’s conservancy said.

“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 LGTBQ community and a reminder of the collective progress still needed to achieve these four freedoms for all,” the Four Freedoms Park Conservancy wrote in a statement on the park’s website.

The park will launch the installation Saturday, June 15 with an “#AscendWithPride” event—a free, family-friendly pride celebration from noon to 6 p.m. Visitors can partake in a special picnic on the law with food, wine, and beer available for purchase, VideoOut will be roaming the park throughout the day capturing locals coming out stories for their online library (you can sign up for a time slot here), and Drag Queen Story Hour will read books that focus on diversity and inclusion from Little Bee Books at 12:30 and again at 2 p.m.

For directions and accessibility info visit the park’s website here.