Guest Editorial
BY ELISSA STEIN
Pride in New York City can be a day of beauty, of rainbows, of glitter, of
hand holding, of love. But what used to be a commemoration of the Stonewall
protests and march has grown into a bloated, corporate-driven event, a
seemingly never-ending day of claustrophobic sidewalks, mounds of garbage, earsplitting
sound systems, and a neighborhood held hostage by countless barricades
and a parade that goes on far too long.
Kicking off Sunday at noon, the Heritage of Pride March started off down Fifth
Ave., headed west at Eighth St., then went along Christopher St., and then north on
Seventh Ave. In doing so, it created an enclosed trap — blocks constricted by festivities
on either side, which left Sixth Ave. as a free-for-all for hours and hours and even
more hours. Late into the night, fl oats, trucks, cars and marchers were still jam-packed
along lower Fifth Ave. with the parade route still stretching far out in front of them.
Major League Baseball, Uber, M&Ms, Jet Blue, Smirnoff Vodka, Polaroid, the
United Kingdom, Ukraine, an entertainment union, the National Hockey League,
countless churches and more made their way Downtown after 9:30 p.m. Accompanying
them were street-level volunteers, walking, dancing and enthusiastically distributing
logo-stamped giveaways, including candy, sunglasses holders, MetroCard
cases, ID lanyards, bandanas, stickers, light-up necklaces, paper fans and posters, to
the few bystanders remaining on sidewalks. Too many of those sponsored products,
along with cups, confetti, broken props, costumes and more, ended up discarded on
the street, piled high against curbs, stashed on steps and in doorways as the day/
night went on.
The noise level of sponsored fl oats, laden with even more volunteers, was too
often deafening. There were so many, it seems the fl oats couldn’t be spaced far
enough apart, and so sponsors cranked up their individual sound systems to
drown out everyone else; at times, it was impossible to hear people standing close
by on the sidelines. All this, late into the night, through a mostly residential neighborhood.
The hard work of everyone who worked to keep the streets safe and then returned
them to status quo after the hordes went home is much appreciated. Going
forward, though, someone needs to be the grown-up in the room and cap the
number of participants, set a time limit, and take affected neighborhoods and
communities into consideration. For an event that should be about inclusiveness,
the inevitable deluge now borders on abuse. Local residents and streets should not
be subjected to this level of noise pollution, barricading and destruction. Both parade
organizers and elected offi cials should take a hard look at the havoc this event
wreaks and fi gure out what they can do to prevent it from happening again.
Stein is a Village resident, writer, consultant and community activist.
Publisher of The Villager, Villager Express, Chelsea Now,
Downtown Express and Manhattan Express
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COURTESY NYC PARKS ARCHIVE
Mayor John Lindsay addressed the crowd at the 1969 groundbreaking.
Fifty years ago, in July 1969, Mayor John Lindsay addressed a crowd at a
groundbreaking in Washington Square Park. The renovation project would
include lowering the fountain in the central plaza, adding a raised plaza in
the southeast area of the park, and building three concrete play mounds.
“The Mounds,” as they were known, in the park’s southwestern quadrant,
were for years used for snow sledding in winter, and also by skateboarders,
but eventually became dilapidated and infested by rats. They were razed in
the most recent park renovation in the 2000s, and have since been replaced
by a kids’ climbing net suspended over sunken slopes lined with artifi cial
turf — a very popular children’s play spot.
THE HOT TOPIC
STORY: “East Village board backs zoning limiting chains”
(posted on thevillager.com, 6/28/19)
SUMMARY: Community Board 3 passed a resolution supporting
limiting the size of East Village retail stores, plus restricting
chain stores to E. Houston and E. 14th Sts. Existing
chain stores would be grandfathered. The board’s opinions
are advisory, and the City Planning Department and the City
Council would have to implement the measures. But the resolution
has hit a nerve among locals.
REACH: 913 people as of 7/1/19
10 July 4, 2019 TVG Schneps Media
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