I am so fed up with there being a parade on Fifth Avenue practically every Sunday (and certain Mondays, including today!).
Who are all these people and what are they really parading for? I don't understand why all these ethnic groups from all over the world need to have parades here in New York.
Maybe it makes me grumpy and a little bit racist sometimes, but if you're proud to be Puerto Rican, why don't you have a parade in San Juan? If you're proud to be German, why don't you have a parade in Dusseldorf? You're blocking our useful Avenue.
And this Columbus Day bullshit has really got my goat. Evidently, the Spanish people and the Italian people both lay claim to Christopher Columbus and they both want to celebrate the fact that he found our land. But they don't want to celebrate at the same time as the others. So we have to have a Hispanic Columbus Day parade on Sunday, and ANOTHER, non-Hispanic Columbus Day parade on Monday. Jesus Christ.
I have a special view towards griping about these parades because I work in a hotel on 5th Avenue. Our guests are always inconvenienced by the parades, traffic is always terrible, and you have to assume that there's a negative impact for most of the Fifth Avenue stores. I doubt that Louis Vuitton or Gucci or Prada post good sales volumes on the day of the Puetro Rican parade. Now, if they were just open early the morning of the Gay Pride Parade...
But seriously, here's the stupidest thing about most of these parades. Parades are supposed to be, in my version of the world, a spectator event. But have you seen some of these parades here in NYC? There'll be like 4 people watching on one block -- and about 4000 at that exact same second who are put out by the traffic, by the fact that the cops won't let them cross the street, all sorts of bullshit like that.
So here's what I propose: In order for a parade permit to be granted for the following year, you have to have at least four times as many dedicated spectactors for your parade as you have participants. Otherwise, no Avenue for you! We'd end up with about two or three parades a year, tops.
And that's more than enough.
Posted by Jon at October 13, 2003 01:32 PM | TrackBackI don't think any New York City politicians are going to risk offending an ethnic group. NYC practically invented that kind of balancing act, in America at least.
I'd like to see an end to letting long funerals stop traffic. Don't remember that happening when I lived in Manhattan but it is a problem down here in the darkest South.
Posted by: Richard Evans Lee at October 13, 2003 03:34 PMTrue dat. Although I did see the Nigerian Independence Day parade a few weeks ago. It was cute. It went down 2nd Avenue, but only half of the street was blocked off. I felt sorry for them. Why didn't they have enough clout to demand the whole avenue? I felt like they were wronged.
Posted by: lotus at October 14, 2003 06:58 PM