NYC Parade Life

      One of the smaller parades in the city is the annual Cinco de Mayo parade along Central Park West. The parade is in honor of the famous Battle of Puebla in 1862 where Mexican troops were outnumbered 4000 to 8000 and still crushed the French Army that had been undefeated for over 50 years. It is not in celebration of Mexican Independence as few observers mentioned and of course I had to correct them. Ugghh.. This time around the celebration started off with a group of chinelos dancing around to live band music soon followed by the lovely Miss Cinco de Mayo on the live band float. A special treat came when an enthusiastic group of modern dancers tore it up on the way down to 96th St. where the parade ended. They were followed by a more traditional group of dancers with ornate costumes that really showed the crowd what a fun dance it can be.  Closing out the short but fun parade were a much larger group of chinelos dancing until the music stopped.  A few of them looked as though they could have sipped on a few Coronas to cool off after all that jumping around.

Every culture has a different way of celebrating the change of seasons and one of the most ancient ones is from the Persian region of the world. Coinciding with the change of seasons from winter to spring is also the New Year or Nowruz, a symbol of hope and change for the year 2751 of the Iranian calendar. The young parade of only 10 years seems to be gaining more popularity as the sidewalks along the parade route on Madison Ave. were getting filled with revelers. The mounted police signaled the start of the parade. Organizers and VIPs marched behind the large banner while a man dressed up as an old man gave away two dollar bills to the children for good luck and prosperity. An enthusiastic representation of Haji Firuz got the crowd excited about the parade and what was awaiting them. The first group of Persian dancers came out with traditional attire and dancing to a traditional Persian tune. Each and every float was symbolic of the theme of the event with colorful flowers and greenery everywhere.

Motorcycle riders rolled up just before two of the largest flags of the parade appeared…the current Iranian flag and the pre-Revolutionary flag. The parade has groups from the region formerly known as Persia including Armenia, Azerbajain,Tajikistan, and other countries. The group called Central Asian Vatan got the crowd worked up with their traditional music and dancing,  A dance instructor was showing young girls some traditional moves which keeps in line with the whole theme of the parade..passing on the Persian culture and tradition to the young ones. An interesting float this year was dedicated to Zoroaster the Prophet with a banner of Thomas Jefferson and the Prophet posing together…a conspiracy theory in the making.  Crowd favorites appeared including the Iranian wrestlers or Zoor Khaneh and a children’s story teller with her lioness. The parade finale always includes college students carrying signs proudly while Iranian music is blaring and flags are waving everywhere as the headed towards Madison Square Park for more fun and delicious food.

                   Happy Nawruz!!

     Large crowds turned out this year for the 75th annual Greek Independence Day parade this past Sunday on 5th Ave.  This is the largest Greek heritage celebration in the US with thousands of spectators and marchers all throughout the tri-state area coming to wave their flags and show their Greek pride. In celebration of the 192nd anniversary of independence from the Ottoman Empire, the NYC parade is generally after the first weekend after March 25 as that is the actual date Greece designated as National Day. This year, however, Easter came early and the parade had to be moved to the following weekend which actually turned out to be better since the weather was warmer after a chilly March. The crowd began waving their blue flags as the mounted police signaled the start of the parade. The NYPD Marching band led the way for both Greek and NYC dignitaries including the Honorable Mayor Bloomberg and Archbishop Demetrios up to the reviewing stand by 68th St. Even US Senator Chuck Schumer mixed it up abit with parade organizer John Catsimatidis. The parade was broadcast live to the domestic audience and back to Greece for millions more to watch. Once the parade VIPs and dignitaries made their way to the reviewing stand, then the fun began. The Greek School of Plato from Brooklyn announced the entrance of parade favorite, the National Greek Guards or Ezvones, with their traditional uniform and signature march.   The crowd went nuts. Keeping in line with traditional Greek culture came the Greek Folkloric Society with traditional costume and music. Right behind them were another crowd favorite, the Greek Warriors with traditional helmets, spears, and shields..of course they were strategically placed in the parade to protect the Greek beauty queens float from anyone attempting to hop on the float without permission.

The Greeks are a religious people and many of the remaining marchers had some affiliation with a particular church from their area. Orthodox Churches were represented from all the 5 boroughs, upstate NY and Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. One notable church was a little one , St. Nicholas Church, which was directly across from one of the Twin Towers. The priest carried the remaining relic of a picture of St. Nicholas which always reminds me of the persevering spirit of man and the love of God. Many schools of Greek heritage and college affiliations marched with some even stopping to sing the Greek national anthem with pride. As a sign of unity, representatives from Crete and Cyprus marched up 5th Ave. waving flags and dressed in traditional costume. I couldn’t tell them apart from the Greek costumes but I’m sure people from that part of the world could. All in all it was a festive crowd with lots to cheer for as the Greek economy is still rebounding and many people back home are still hurting. I’m sure anyone watching the parade in Athens would know that the Greek pride and tradition are still alive and well in the Big Apple.