WEST VILLAGE — Gov. Andrew Cuomo recommended Wednesday that famed Village gay bar Julius' be designated a historically significant site in New York State.
Cuomo recommended 19 sites in New York be added to the State Register of Historic places. Julius' was among three in New York City; the other two were a Manhattan church and a cemetery in Brooklyn.
Julius is the oldest gay bar in New York City and one of the oldest bars in continuous operation, according to the historian who wrote the application petitioning for the bar's historic designation.
Cuomo's recommendation points to the famous "sip-in" that occurred on April 21, 1966 where activists drank in defiance of State Liquor Authority regulations that forbade bars from serving "known or suspected gay men or lesbians."
The state deemed Julius' eligible for consideration back in 2012, but this recommendation officially adds the site to the registry, which in turn makes it eligible for consideration as a national historic landmark.
Preservationists have been pushing for the city to landmark Julius, which would protect the building from being significantly changed.
The city has not done so, though the Landmarks Preservation Commission did landmark Stonewall Inn last year. The decision that coincided with both the Pride Parade and the Supreme Court's legalization of gay marriage nationwide.
Stonewall was the LPC's first landmark designated for cultural reasons rather than architectural. One commissioner said of the building itself, "This ain't a pretty building."
