Its time to examine parades, which is part of the United States Constitution’s First Amendment guaranteeing the right to public assembly including standing in the public environs or marching in a parade.
In New York City, parades have a rich history with some going back decades and some with a history that goes back over 100 years. There are 200 parades annually in New York City ranging from small neighborhood events that draw several hundred onlookers to very large parades on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan that draw more than one million spectators.
And what’s more, nearly all parades are operated by the same various non-profit groups who every year manage to always get their New York City parade permit. The permits are simply handed over to the same groups year after year. There is no competitive bidding nor other opportunity for other groups or non-profits to operate a parade. None.
Consider that parades are multi-million dollar cash cows for these non-profits. Large sums of money are collected from various commercial entities who march in these parades. They advertise their products on banners, tee shirts, cars and floats. Who gets the money and where does it get spent remains an open question. Days before a parade is held–especially in Midtown Manhattan, the parade route and surrounding streets are cleaned, broken traffic lights are quickly repaired and potholes get fixed. Moreover, vast numbers of NYPD officers are drawn from all over the City and assigned to protect the parade route. Both parade marchers and onlookers spend their money in nearby businesses. In short, these parades are major economic engines for whatever area that hosts the parade.
There are two issues relative to parades, both are in need of serious review and public discussion. First, nearly every large parade in New York City is hosted on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. It’s time to start rotating the siting of these parades to the other boroughs so they can reap the economic benefits from hosting parades. Fifth Avenue in Manhattan is one of the most wealthy areas in all of New York City and surely doesn’t need anymore money. Let’s start hosting more parades around the City from Grand Concourse in The Bronx to Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.
Second, its time to rotate non-profit sponsorship of these parades. It ought not be the same non-profits running parades every year. By law, New York City elected public officials are subject to term limits; non-profits’ monopolistic ownership of parades should likewise be subject to term limits. Its time to give other groups and non-profits the opportunity to earn money running a parade. Finally, there must be vastly increased transparency of parade operators’ profits and what happens to those profits.
Lets the public discussion begin–the sooner the better.
