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Community Board 5 voted earlier this month to recommend that five parades, including the Federation of Indian Associations' August India Day Parade, not culminate their events at the north end of Madison Square Park but rather hold their "post-parade events" further north on Madison Avenue, according to an article in today's New York Post by John Doyle.
The article said that for years the groups "staged cultural performances as part of their festivities."
"While the vote is only advisory - the NYPD issues parade permits - the move rankled parade organizers who say they are being singled out as other park activities, such as folk and jazz summer concerts, enjoy the official support of the Madison Square Park Conservancy," the article said.
The article noted that Ramesh Patel, chairman of the National Federation of Indian-American Associations, said that "Community Board 5 has prejudicial views. It has become very vicious, and we are not going to take it, adding that his group "may bring a lawsuit."
"A CB5 insider explained that as the area surrounding the park has become more residential, locals have become increasingly annoyed by the parades," the article continued, "so the board voted to request that the events - including the Sikh Day Parade, Muslim Day Parade, Pakistan Independence Day Parade and Philippine Independence Day Parade - begin at the park, rather than terminate there. 'At the end of the parade route, everyone is congregating all at once . . . It causes a lot of commotion and a lot of debris,' the board insider said."
The community board said it would convene a task force to study the issue and the Madison Square Park Conservancy said it is staying neutral, the article, which began "Talk about march madness!' said.
The neighborhood just to the east and north of Madison Square Park is a major center of Indian restaurants and food stores.
Wally Rubin, district manager of Community Board 5, told CityRealty.com that the board is "happy to keep the parades, but is concerned about not disrupting" the increasingly residential character of the neighborhood.
The article said that for years the groups "staged cultural performances as part of their festivities."
"While the vote is only advisory - the NYPD issues parade permits - the move rankled parade organizers who say they are being singled out as other park activities, such as folk and jazz summer concerts, enjoy the official support of the Madison Square Park Conservancy," the article said.
The article noted that Ramesh Patel, chairman of the National Federation of Indian-American Associations, said that "Community Board 5 has prejudicial views. It has become very vicious, and we are not going to take it, adding that his group "may bring a lawsuit."
"A CB5 insider explained that as the area surrounding the park has become more residential, locals have become increasingly annoyed by the parades," the article continued, "so the board voted to request that the events - including the Sikh Day Parade, Muslim Day Parade, Pakistan Independence Day Parade and Philippine Independence Day Parade - begin at the park, rather than terminate there. 'At the end of the parade route, everyone is congregating all at once . . . It causes a lot of commotion and a lot of debris,' the board insider said."
The community board said it would convene a task force to study the issue and the Madison Square Park Conservancy said it is staying neutral, the article, which began "Talk about march madness!' said.
The neighborhood just to the east and north of Madison Square Park is a major center of Indian restaurants and food stores.
Wally Rubin, district manager of Community Board 5, told CityRealty.com that the board is "happy to keep the parades, but is concerned about not disrupting" the increasingly residential character of the neighborhood.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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