December 9, 2021
This week, a Long Island man accused of sending dozens of violent threats to New York metro area LGBTQ organizations and the NYC Pride March over several years was arrested by federal agents. These threats have terrorized many in our community and are part of the increase in hate violence impacting LGBTQ New Yorkers. At the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP), we know that hate violence against LGBTQ individuals and communities remains ramp[...]
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November 30, 2021
This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Bea Hanson has been an advocate for victims of violence for over three decades. She served as AVP’s HIV-Related Violence Program Coordinator in the 1990’s, and later worked as the Chief Program Officer for Safe Horizon. Later, she served as the Principal Deputy Director of the United States Office on Violence Against Women for six years. Currently, she is the Executive Director o[...]
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November 24, 2021
This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Sharon Stapel served AVP for seven years as its Executive Director, steering the organization through the recession of 2008 and growing programs, including overseeing the launch of AVP’s Legal Project in 2013 and our programming geared to serve transgender and gender non-conforming people. A lawyer, activist, and professor, Sharon was a leader in the fight for an LGBTQ-inclusive re[...]
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November 23, 2021
This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. A former member of the first neighborhood-based gay and lesbian group in New York City, the Chelsea Gay Association, Arthur Goodman was one of AVP’s founders in 1979. He holds a Masters of Public Administration from CUNY Baruch College, and currently provides financial planning services, specializing in the LGBT community and unmarried opposite sex couples through Good Man Financia[...]
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November 18, 2021
This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. In 2019, Stevin Bonifacio, a New York City Anti-Violence Project’s client, reached a settlement with the City of New York Department of Homeless Services for anti-transgender discrimination he experienced in the city’s homeless shelter system. His complaint, filed through the City Commission on Human Rights, included financial compensation and important trans specific policy chan[...]
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November 15, 2021
This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. LaLa Zannell is a Black trans woman with over a decade of experience as a community organizer and advocate for trans and queer livelihood. LaLa’s experience with AVP ranges from seeking support to becoming an intern, then being hired as a Front Desk Assistant, a Community Organizer, and finally, as a Lead Organizer. With over eight years of experience at AVP, LaLa helped found AVP'[...]
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September 15, 2021
Contact: Audacia Ray, New York City Anti-Violence Project, aray@avp.org Esais Johnson, a young gay Black man with autism, died at Rikers Island last week after he languished a month in the jail. The Department of Corrections failed to deliver him to three separate court hearings, preventing him from paying his $1 bail. Johnson is the tenth person in Department of Corrections custody that has died in the jail system since December 2020, a huge [...]
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September 14, 2021
This interview has been shortened and condensed for clarity. Tom Duane was the first openly gay and openly HIV+ member of the New York Senate and has been integral to legislative reform in the state to better protect LGBTQ+ and HIV-affected people.
A former AVP board member and hate violence survivor, Tom’s legacy includes sponsorship of same-sex marriage legislation and the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act (GENDA) in New Yo[...]
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August 5, 2021
The New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) stands shoulder to shoulder with the survivors who have bravely come forward to report their experiences of sexual harassment and violence at the hands of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. We join the growing number of New Yorkers and others calling for the Governor’s resignation, in light of the scathing report released on Monday by New York Attorney General, Letitia James. The report from indepen[...]
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June 17, 2021
Click each question below to learn more about AVP's vision for community safety at Pride. AVP’s Cops out of Pride campaign aims to promote safety and wellbeing for all LGBTQ people at the Pride March in Manhattan, outside of policing and criminalization. AVP serves and supports LGBTQ survivors, which include working class and poor LGBTQ and HIV-affected survivors of color who are disproportionately criminalized, arrested, and/or detai[...]
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This year, the New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) is excited to launch Cops Out of Pride, our campaign to remove the presence of the NYPD from Pride celebrations in New York City. AVP works to end all forms of violence against LGBTQ and HIV-affected people, including police violence. Forty years ago, AVP was founded because members of our community were being attacked, and when they went to the police, they experienced indifference and m[...]
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May 28, 2021
Contact: Audacia Ray, New York City Anti-Violence Project, aray@avp.org The New York City Anti-Violence Project (AVP) is proud to be the LGBTQ anchor organization in the new Partners Against The Hate (P.A.T.H. FORWARD) initiative to prevent hate violence against vulnerable communities in New York City. In a year marked by increased hate violence, especially against LGBTQ people of color, the investment in AVP and other community based organiza[...]
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