New York landmarks to be lit in honor of MTV's 40th birthday

Martha Quinn, Bob Santelli, Bob Pittman and Alan Hunter speak at the MTV Exhibit Pre-Opening Event at GRAMMY Museum Mississippi on May 13, 2021 in Cleveland, Mississippi. (Photo by Rory Doyle/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)

Landmarks around New York will be lit in yellow, blue and red Sunday to mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of the MTV Network.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced several locations around New York City including Grand Central Terminal, Kosciuszko Bridge and One World Trade Center. Locations outside the city include the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, the Albany International Airport Gateway and the state fairgrounds in Syracuse.

Additional locations include the H. Carl McCall SUNY Building, Alfred E. Smith State Office Building and State Education Building in Albany and the east end gateway to the Long Island Rail Road at Penn Station.

MTV debuted in New York City on Aug. 1, 1981 and currently reaches more than 1 billion people in 180 countries. Cuomo called the network "a cornerstone of pop culture" that "paved the way for a new level of media expression and appreciation" and increased political participation through its efforts to encourage younger people to vote.

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