New York celebrates 50th anniversary of Stonewall riots New York city celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, as the city gears up to welcome millions to its Gay Pride event that will feature concerts from Madonna and Grace Jones. Stonewall Day commemorates the June 1969 riots sparked by repeated police raids on the Stonewall Inn -- a well-known gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village -- that proved to be a turning point in the LGBTQ community's struggle for civil rights. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES