The City of Hoboken and the Hoboken Arts Advisory Committee held a rededication ceremony earlier this week for the City’s handcrafted AIDS Memorial Ribbon, honoring the Hoboken residents who lost their lives to AIDS and AIDS-related complications. Originally created in 1995 by municipal employees, the memorial has been fully restored, expanded, and permanently returned to its original home on the first floor of City Hall.
The revitalized ribbon now commemorates 35 members of the Hoboken community, whose names are inscribed on the memorial:
Joseph Serico; Jose Manuel Lopez; Fred O. Laylon; Richard Critiano; Harold Zabrack; Michael T. Berkery; Kenneth M. Zito; Joseph Lopez; Manuel M. Ruiz; Maria F. Van Carpels; Richard Miller; Thomas La Bruno; White Eagle; Michael J. Rubino; Frances “Pinky” Prester; Linda Fallo; David Edward Combs; Gerard E. Dorr; Kevin Thomas Watson; Jimmy Falzarano; Nancy Fitzpatrick; James Yaccarino; Robert H. Dyson Jr.; Carol Alacci-St. Bello; John Frederick Klar; George Albert Flimin; Vincent James Watson; Carmine Pino, Jr.; Stephen Joseph Jaerger; Frank Calabrese; Melvin “Billy” Gonzalez; Billie Van Wie, Jr.; David Orefice; Gary Luis Burke, Jr.; Joseph Luis Lopez.
The restoration effort was led by the Hoboken Arts Advisory Committee in partnership with the City’s Division of Cultural Affairs.
“This memorial is much more than a piece of public art. It is a collective act of remembrance,” said the City’s Public Arts Administrator Annie McAdams. “For 30 years, it has carried the weight of love, loss, and resilience from families across our city. Restoring it was an honor, and expanding it ensures that even more stories and lives continue to be seen and valued.”
As part of the ceremony, resident and Event Producer for the City of Hoboken, Angelina Ledesma, sister of honoree Frances “Pinky” Prester, shared reflections on her sister’s life and legacy.
“My sister, Frances ‘Pinky’ Prester, was born on January 1, 1965, a New Year’s baby who brought hope and joy into our lives,” said Ledesma. “She passed away at just 31 years old. I was only 13, but I knew even then that I was losing someone extraordinary. She lived with AIDS bravely at a time when the world met the disease with fear instead of understanding. She chose grace, strength, and love. She was not a statistic; she was my sister. She was loved. I miss her every day. Her journey was short, but her impact was not. Her story lives in me.”
First created in 1995, with the support of Mayor Anthony Russo, at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the AIDS Memorial Ribbon remains a handmade tribute to the lives lost. Its 2025 restoration includes new names, solicited from the public over the last several months.
The World AIDS Day rededication of the memorial also included remarks from Hoboken Pride Committee member and LaGuardia Community College professor of Community Health and Wellness David Bimbi as well as a poetry reading by Hoboken Pride Committee member and Hoboken High School student Cecilia Platt and a reading of the 35 names on the memorial.
By the end of the year, the Division of Cultural Affairs will launch a memorial webpage to honor the individuals commemorated on the ribbon, ensuring their stories remain accessible to the community. New names to be added to the AIDS Memorial Ribbon can be sent to Hoboken Cultural Affairs at culturalaffairs@hobokennj.gov.
