June 27, 2022
After a two year pandemic hiatus, the NYC Pride Parade came roaring back yesterday afternoon downtown. Tens of thousands of participants and onlookers, perhaps a million of them, traipsed down from Chelsea to the Village and then back up on foot, on floats and in vehicles. It was packed. Imagine the Village Halloween Parade and then double or triple it. The event had a more homemade and less corporate feel to it this year, and it took place in a markedly different America than the virtual one two years ago.
Back in 2017, all of the corporate floats, featuring everything from Apple to Xerox, and hours of live TV coverage felt like validation and acceptance, according some attendees that spoke with the Gazette that year. This year, Pride Month ended on a jarring note for many Americans: the Supreme Court ruled this week that Women had no Constitutional Right to Choose when to become a parent because abortion isn’t mentioned in the Constitution. For that matter, neither are Gay or Interracial Marriage. Suddenly, the momentum was turning backwards towards Pre-Stonewall America of back alleys, coat hangers and closets. Some “Red States” are rolling back progress and even banning school books. Florida passed a law that’s been dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by opponents. Their Governor has pressured Disney to be less Gay friendly.
People gathered in Washington Square Park after the Parade on Sunday.
And to make matters worse, the Supreme Court just made it easier to walk around with a loaded gun in our City. Only hours after the Parade ended, a big problem with that ruling was on display in Washington Square. Someone lit off firecrackers and the crowd, thinking it was gunshots, responded by stampeding into the surrounding streets.
No serious injuries were reported by officials, but had shots really been fired, the outcome might well have been a lot worse. We should expect more of these terrifying stampedes in the future. The Gazette caught up with Inwood’s State Senator, Robert Jackson near the Parade’s finish line. His observations on this year’s celebration alluded to the potential for violence following a hate crime against gays in Oslo, Norway just this week. “This is about everyone coming together and celebrating Pride Month, everybody having a good time and being safe.” The NYPD was everywhere: A dozen officers stood on every street corner throughout the Parade route and a blue and white Department chopper hovered noisily overhead all afternoon.
NYS Senator Robert Jackson
Vehicle and pedestrian barriers were set up on every sidestreet.
Sanitation trucks were deployed crosswise mid-block on every side street to prevent vehicular attacks. Bike rack barriers lined the route and extended for another 20 yards or so into every block. Getting anywhere in a non-emergency vehicle was impossible, while traveling on foot was merely very difficult. To cross 6th Avenue, for example, you had to first walk up or down the Avenue through several blocks of tightly packed onlookers to reach a designated crossing point. Then, you’d funnel between barriers partway to 5th or 7th before turning around and heading back toward 6th. From time to time the police would briefly open up the Avenue barriers and let dozens of people cross (in between yet more barriers) and do the whole maze exercise once more on the opposite side. It was very effective for keeping onlookers and Parade participants apart, but this setup would be deadly in a stampede when panicked people tried to flee and couldn’t escape. Additionally, although the sanitation trucks were effective in preventing a car from plowing into the crowd, there were no obvious measures being taken to prevent a Boston Marathon style bomber or even a spree shooter with a gun in a cooler. It’s something NYPD needs to think about before the big Halloween Parade this Fall, when the new gun regulations could make such an attack easier to pull off.
But to be clear, the Parade yesterday was a big success and by any measure, everybody looked like they had a great time. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny. After a two year break, this year’s Pride Month was a welcome reminder of all the progress since Stonewall. The issue now is hanging onto it.
Here are some more photos from NYC Pride 2022:
