Unveiling Donald Suggs Jr. Way on 6th Street and Avenue B

Photos by Stacie Joy 

On Saturday morning, friends and family of Donald Suggs Jr. came together for a street co-naming ceremony in his honor ... on the SW corner of Sixth Street and Avenue B — now also known as Donald Suggs Jr. Way.

Suggs, a longtime resident of Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B, died in October 2012 of a heart attack. He was 51.

Here's more about him via the advisory for the street co-naming ceremony:

Donald lived his life as a tireless activist for justice, a courageous advocate for the lives of people in HIV-affected communities, a critical thinker, a consequential writer, an incisive editor for The Village Voice and an international media activist based in the East Village. 

He was wise, kind, generous, funny, brilliant, creative, honorable, and out of the closet — back when it was risky to be out. Donald was our good neighbor on East 6th Street.

You can read more about his life and work in this EVG post.

Gabriella Sonam, project coordinator for The Donald Suggs Jr. Street Naming Project and neighbor, speaks about Donald's impact on the neighborhood and NYC...

Guests included his son, Dr. Luis Ramirez...

... Donald’s two sisters and his niece hold the commemorative duplicate sign after program remarks and the street sign unveiling (from the left): Delali Suggs-Akaffu (niece), Dina Suggs and Dawn Suggs... 

Suggs also worked at Exit9 on Avenue A... owners Charles Branstool and Christy Davis were in attendance for the ceremony...

Nancy Jo Sales (right) and her daughter Zazie were close to Donald and embrace as they admire the street sign in his honor and think about their friend...

City to unveil Donald Suggs Jr. Way tomorrow on 6th Street

Starting tomorrow, Sixth Street between Avenue A and Avenue B will have a new co-name — Donald Suggs Jr. Way.

Suggs, a longtime resident of this block, died in October 2012 of a heart attack. He was 51.

Here's more about him via the advisory for the street co-naming ceremony:

Donald lived his life as a tireless activist for justice, a courageous advocate for the lives of people in HIV-affected communities, a critical thinker, a consequential writer, an incisive editor for The Village Voice and an international media activist based in the East Village. 

He was wise, kind, generous, funny, brilliant, creative, honorable, and out of the closet — back when it was risky to be out. Donald was our good neighbor on East 6th Street.

You can read more about his life and work in this EVG post.

His friends and family will gather tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 15) on the SW corner of Sixth Street and Avenue B at 11 a.m. for the unveiling ceremony.

A campaign to co-name part of 6th Street after Donald Suggs Jr.

Donald Suggs, a longtime resident of Sixth Street, died in October 2012 from an apparent heart attack. He was 51.

His friends and loved ones have a campaign underway to petition the city to co-name the southwest corner of Sixth Street and Avenue B Donald Suggs Jr. Way. (There was a similar campaign in late 2012, though those plans didn't materialize.)

Suggs lived for years at 526 E. Sixth St. There are petitions up along the block here between Avenue A and Avenue B for people to sign...



Some background on him from a Donald Suggs Jr. Street Naming Project website:

Donald was a senior editor at The Village Voice, a former associate director of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and a program director at Harlem United Community AIDS Center.

His work as an organizer included an early campaign against homophobia in the music industry that was the basis for the British Broadcasting Company film by Isaac Julien, "A Darker Shade of Black."

Through numerous appearances on "The Ricki Lake Show," he became nationally known for his witty commentary as a relationship expert and for his scathing critiques and rigorous insight into modern white backlash against people of color and LGBTQ communities’ decades before “Alt-Right” rebranding and Trumpism.

He penned the first major article about the transgender Harlem Ballroom Scene in New York for The Village Voice and his writings from The Advocate to The New York Times and his activism, which began as a pro-feminist undergraduate at Yale University, led to ground breaking discourse on black LGBTQ people around the world.

Donald was former board chairman for the public access cable network Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN). In 2001, he founded People Using Media to do Prevention, or the PUMP project, which taught young people from neighborhoods decimated by HIV how to produce HIV prevention videos to combat the spread of HIV within their communities ... His work continues to be cited for changing the landscape of American HIV messaging campaigns.

The petitions will be imp through tomorrow (Monday) on Sixth Street.

A petition to name part of East Sixth Street after Donald Suggs

Donald Suggs, a familiar face around the neighborhood, died in early October from an apparent heart attack. He was 51.

Now his many friends and loved ones have started a campaign to petition the city to name the block that he lived on East Sixth Street between Avenue A and B in his honor.

From the EVG inbox:

Donald Suggs Street, or Donald Suggs Way, or Donald Suggs Avenue
Sign a petition to name East 6th Street, between Avenues A & B Donald Suggs Street. Donald Suggs was an amazing, brilliant, multi-talented New Yorker who lived for over 20 years at 526 East 6th Street. His journalism at The Village Voice was groundbreaking in its expert coverage of marginalized people. He was African-American and gay. He was a social activist, a raconteur...

His family and friends feel the loss very deeply. He made it a point to know his neighbors, not just in his building, but on his block, and extended his friendliness to most of the East Village, becoming so well-known and well-liked, just for being him, that his death prompted overflowing expressions of grief on the same sidewalks where he'd walked so much, and his Facebook page has practically vibrated from the outcries and postings.

Donald's contributions to his neighborhood and to the city are considerable and noteworthy and deserve this street-naming recognition. Here is a formal obituary.

To sign this petition the old-fashioned way, you may stop by Exit 9 on Avenue A (between East Fourth and East Third) where Suggs recently worked.

Here are the hours to sign the petition at Exit 9:
Today, noon to 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Dec 17 — Thursday, Dec. 20, noon to 7:30 p.m.

Per his friend Jennifer: "Right now we will see if we can get enough signatures this way. If need be, we will look into doing an online petition."

Previously.

[Image via Facebook]

Memorial service tomorrow for Donald Suggs

From the EVG inbox...

Friends and loves of Donald Suggs, we will be holding a memorial service for him at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery on Saturday, December 8th, beginning at 1 pm.

Read more about the memorial here. Read more about his life and work here.

Suggs, a familiar face around the neighborhood, died in early October from an apparent heart attack. He was 51.

[Photo by Stacie Joy]

A celebration of Donald Suggs' life tomorrow night at Eastern Bloc

Via Facebook:

Dear friends and loves of Donald,

We're having a party at one of his favorite places, Eastern Bloc, to commemorate his life. If you like, come with stories — you'll have a chance to tell them. Come with love, because he'd want you to share it. And come prepared to celebrate, not just to mourn. With drinks. And mariachis.

As you know, Donald was also a tireless activist. Please consider donating to some of the causes that were dearest to him:

One Iowa

Grassroots Leadership

The celebration starts at 5. Eastern Bloc is on East Sixth Street ... just east of Avenue A.

Suggs, a longtime East Village resident who worked at Exit 9 on Avenue A, died last weekend of an apparent heart attack. He was 51.

A memorial for Donald Suggs on Avenue A

[Photo by Stacie Joy]

A memorial went up yesterday outside Exit9 on Avenue A where Donald Suggs worked. The longtime East Village resident died this past weekend of an apparent heart attack. He was 51.

His many friends and loved ones are planning a celebration of his life. In the comments last night, Exit9 owner Charles Branstool wrote that he would share information about any memorial/celebration on the store's website and Facebook page. We'll post those details here too.

RIP Donald Suggs

[Photo by Stacie Joy]

Donald Suggs, a familiar face around the neighborhood, died this past weekend. He was 51. A friend said that he had suffered a heart attack. There's no word yet on a memorial or celebration of this life.

EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared the following:

Donald was my friend and an all-around great guy. An activist, a journalist, long-time EV resident, a queer role model, and a wonderful human being.

He also worked at Exit9 on Avenue A. The store had this message yesterday on its Facebook page:

We, at Exit9, would like to express our sincere condolences for the loss of our most caring friend and associate, Donald Suggs. You will be missed not only by us, but by the many customers who looked forward to your endless smile and contagious laughter.

His bio on Facebook reads like this:

I've been in the neighborhood nearly twenty-five years and miss the days when people actually made or did something interesting — rather than swiping their cards and waiting to be entertained. But I still prefer it to anywhere else on the planet!