Brooklyn Community Pride Nears New HQ In Bedford-Union Armory

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The ink is fresh on a lease that will open a new permanent home for Brooklyn Community Pride Center within a Crown Heights landmark.

The massive Bedford-Union Armory will house the Pride Center's headquarters and a host of other nonprofits. Floyd Rumohr, CEO of Brooklyn Pride, said Tuesday he breathed a "great sign of celebration."

It took 11 years for Brooklyn Community Pride Center to reach the point where it soon will have new, modern office and satellite locations to make sure LGBTQ+ people don't have to go to Manhattan to feel included or helped, Rumohr said.

"By this time next year the dream will become a reality," Rumohr said.

Pride executives, developers and a host of public officials attended the Tuesday lease signing in the Center's current Bed-Stuy location.

That ground floor office on Fulton Street and New York Avenue will remain open when the Armory location opens as soon as September, Rumohr said.

The goal is to have enough satellite spaces so LGBTQ+ Brooklynites don't have to travel more than 15 minutes for services ranging from help with homelessness and immigration, to reducing social isolation and workforce development, Rumohr said.

"No more will young people experiencing homelessness, transgender and gender non-conforming people, HIV-positive gay men, lesbian women seeking to make new friends or other queer Brooklynites have to leave the borough for connection and community," he said.

It's a far cry from Brooklyn Pride's beginnings. Board President Debbie Brennan said it started with a question from former borough President Marty Markowitz that really was an action statement:

"Why is there not a LGBT center in Brooklyn?"

That kickstarted a chain reaction of aid — first from Markowitz and Christine Quinn, the first woman and openly gay City Council speaker, and then a $1 million gift from current borough President Eric Adams.

Quinn said to laughs that she initially thought the group was "crazy" to form in Brooklyn. She praised the bravery of local LGBT people and groups across the city to come out and help prompt political change.

"Coming out is not easy in 2020 or whenever, but it's easier in Chelsea than it is in a neighborhood where you think you're the only one," she said.

Rumohr said the new Armory space will have an open, "WeWork feel" compared to the "drop-in" feel currently in Bed-Stuy. He hopes the space will give LGBTQ+ Brooklynites a place to write a play, work, meet up or seek help.

Together, the two offices serve between 10,000 and 20,000 Brooklynites, he said.

Jere Keys, the Center's development and engagement manager, highlighted its Pride Path workforce development program. Eighty percent of those it serves are below the poverty line, some "far below," he said.

The office serves people who are not comfortable going to Manhattan or quite literally can't afford to make that trip, Keys said.

The lease includes three offices for Callen-Lorde, a community health center, to open a clinic in partnership with the Pride Center. Wendy Stark, executive director of Callen-Lorde, said its one of several projects — including a new mental health center near the Manhattan Bridge — the organization is undertaking.

Social and structural discrimination like homophobia and racism show up in mental health, she said.

"Providing mental health services and LGBT, not just affirming but centered, mental health services is so critical to moving our communities to the next phase of our existence," she said.

Brennan and BFC Partners principal Don Capoccia, who is working to develop the Armory, signed the 30-year lease together. Capoccia said the Armory will not only house Brooklyn Pride's headquarters, but also a host of other Crown Heights nonprofits without permanent homes.

Adams told the crowd he was proud to see a "safe haven" for LGBT Brooklynites.

"I couldn’t have been prouder to allocate $1 million to help make this mission a reality," he wrote on Twitter.

More information can be found at https://lgbtbrooklyn.org/.