LaGuardia and Wagner Archives at LaGuardia Community College/ CUNY Marian Clarke

Activists Daniel Dromm and Maritza Martinez co-founded the Queens Lesbian and Gay Pride Committee in 1992. Under their leadership, the committee organized and raised funds for the inaugural Queens Pride Parade and Festival in 1993. Martinez, a Cuban-American originally from Miami, was one of the first lesbian Latinas to speak openly to the Hispanic community in Jackson Heights about “coming out of the closet” and “being proud of who you are.”  In the following clip, she reflects about coming out very publicly on Univision, the American Spanish language broadcast television network.

In this 2-minute clip Council Member Daniel Dromm talks about fundraising for the first Queens Pride Parade.

Stephen Joseph was commissioner of health of New York City from 1986-1990. Already considered one of the most challenging public health jobs in the United States, Joseph took the position when New York City was at the epicenter of the AIDS crisis. While Joseph was supported by the Koch Administration, he faced opposition from the public and activists over issues such as disease reporting, contract tracing, education, and the needle exchange. In this podcast, Joseph discusses his support of the needle exchange as a means to stem the spread of AIDS amongst intravenous drug users and the subsequent public resistance to the program. ​
 
This oral history with Dr. Joseph was conducted by students at LaGuardia Community College as a part of the Koch Scholars program run by the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. You can read the transcript in its entirety here: http://www.laguardiawagnerarchive.lagcc.cuny.edu/FILES_DOC/Koch_FILES/ORAL_HISTORY/08.100.0039V0039.PDF
 

Stephen Joseph was commissioner of health of New York City from 1986-1990. Already considered one of the most challenging public health jobs in the United States, Joseph took the position when New York City was at the epicenter of the AIDS crisis. While Joseph was supported by the Koch Administration, he faced opposition from the public and activists over issues such as disease reporting, contract tracing, education, and the needle exchange. In this podcast, Joseph discusses the differences between the New York and the San Francisco models and the political implications of estimating the numbers of people infected with the AIDS virus. Joseph details what he considers the pivotal moment in the rupture between the gay community and the Koch Administration.  
 
This oral history with Dr. Joseph was conducted by students at LaGuardia Community College as a part of the Koch Scholars program run by the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives. You can read the transcript in its entirety here: 
http://www.laguardiawagnerarchive.lagcc.cuny.edu/FILES_DOC/Koch_FILES/ORAL_HISTORY/08.100.0039V0039.PDF

In what TheNew York Times today has labeled, “one of the most significant roundups ofpolice supervisors in the recent history of the police department,” the U.S.Attorney for the Southern District has arrested 3 NYPD commanders on federalcorruption charges. The commanders are accused of accepting free overseas anddomestic trips, expensive gifts and sending security business to a privatecompany in exchange for acting as chauffeur, bodyguard and concierge to twobusinessmen.

Theseallegations echo those uncovered by the Knapp Commission in 1970, whichrevealed a far broader and enduring corruption scandal by the policedepartment.  Listen to the recentlyrecorded podcast by The LaGuardia and Wagner Archives with Michael Armstrong,Chief Counsel to the Commission, and Jay Kriegel, Chief of Staff and SpecialCounsel to Mayor John V. Lindsay as they discuss their own memorable roles inthe Commission.  Moreover, they discussthe political climate surrounding the Commission, the roles of PoliceCommissioner Murphy and Leary, and the oftentimes bizarre, even violent, natureof police corruption itself.

Sam Roberts of the New York Times speaks on labor history at the unveiling of the 2016 Working People calendar, outlining important labor milestones from the Tompkins Square Blood or Bread Riot of 1874 and the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire of 1911 to the more recent Occupy Wall Street movement and formation of the Working Families Party.  Roberts notes the steep decline in unionization and the importance of labor unions in NY history and political culture.  The 2016 Working People calendar is produced in partnership between the City University of New York, the New York Times in Education program and the New York City Central Labor Council, and is designed by the LaGuardia and Wagner Archives of the LaGuardia Community College.