Since 1973, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe has served as a home for groundbreaking works of poetry, spoken word, music, theater and visual arts. A multicultural, multi-arts institution, the Cafe champions the use of spoken word and poetry to empower artists of color, immigrant artists and LGBTQIA+ artists. Allen Ginsberg called the Cafe "the most integrated place on the planet", the Wall Street Journal wrote that the Cafe is "an antidote to gentrification" that has grown "from a small, volunteer-led venue best known for weekly poetry events to a thriving arts center"; and NPR called the Cafe a "wildly diverse venue with socially conscious programming" that "speaks to the marginalized."