AIDS Service Center NYC to Open Keith Haring ASC Harlem Center

Ribbon-cutting Attendees to Include Congressman Charles Rangel, Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito, Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, and representatives from The Keith Haring Foundation, Mount Sinai Medical Center, and Community Board 11

NEW YORK, May 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the AIDS Service Center NYC:

WHAT: Named for one of the 20th century's seminal artists and influential AIDS activists, the new Keith Haring ASC Harlem Center will open with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by NYC dignitaries.  

WHEN: Monday, May 17, 2010, 10:00 am

WHERE: Keith Haring ASC Harlem Center, 315 East 104th Street (bet. 1st – 2nd Aves)

WHO: AIDS Service Center NYC (ASC) is a one-stop community resource for people affected by HIV and AIDS, offering HIV testing, treatment and care to New Yorkers in need.  ASC serves more than 2,600 people affected by AIDS each year, over half of them residing in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx.

WHY: The Keith Haring ASC Harlem Center will boldly present Keith Haring's iconic artwork in a newly expanded, renovated facility to provide HIV peer education and access to care services in Harlem.  

The Keith Haring Foundation will join Congressman Charles Rangel, NYC Councilmember Melissa Mark Viverito, Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV and Mount Sinai's Jack Martin Clinic to support AIDS Service Center NYC to expand Harlem HIV community-based services.

"The Keith Haring Foundation is proud to partner on ASC NYC's Harlem site," says Julia Gruen, Executive Director of The Keith Haring Foundation. "It was one of Keith Haring's dreams and one of his Foundation's goals that his activism and visual legacy benefit the HIV-AIDS community.  We are so grateful for the renaming of the Keith Haring ASC Harlem Center, which coincides with the 20th anniversary of the passing of this remarkable and generous artist."

"AIDS Service Center NYC is an important resource for people living with HIV/AIDS," said NYC Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito. "Through hospital partnerships and peer education programs, ASC NYC services help to improve health and resources for Harlem community residents.  I am proud to have contributed capital funding from my office for this exciting project."

"I am happy to welcome ASC NYC's expanded presence in East Harlem," said Congressman Charles Rangel. "It is essential that we provide these types of services in Upper Manhattan, and the Keith Haring ASC Harlem Center has the potential to be a great resource to our community. I look forward to a continued relationship with AIDS Service Center."

The Keith Haring ASC Harlem Center renovation will enable ASC to expand HIV testing and access to care services to Harlem residents in a setting that feels like 'home.' "Connecting people to medical care, helping them find housing, and educating about health promotion are all part of our work," says ASC NYC CEO Sharen Duke.

For more information about AIDS Service Center NYC visit www.ascnyc.org or contact Anne West-Church, Director of Development & Communications, (212) 645-0845 ext. 373 / [email protected].

SOURCE AIDS Service Center NYC