Sunday is Puerto Rico Day Parade, down Fifth Avenue.
Besides the fun and festivities that accompany any parade, there is a big controversey that comes up every year at this event.
Private building owners along Fifth Avenue board up their windows and entrances on the ground floor, because of the damage that is caused by the revellers.
Of course this becomes a political issue in this the melting pot of ethnicity that NYC is.
What I fail to understand is what is wrong with people wanting to protect their private property ? I am sure that they didn’t board it up the first time the parade went down. Over the year, things keep on getting rowdier and unruly and that leaves no choice for the residents of 5th avenue, but to board up.
Just last year, there were 175 arrests during the parade. And that’s nothing compared to what happened in 2000 when a bunch of paraders went berserk in Central Park and attacked women.
Of course a lot of Hispanic leaders have made this into a racial issue. Its their prerogative to do so….this is election year. But the normally sensible Mayor Bloomberg has also joined them in asking building owners not to board up. Come on Mr. Mayor, rise above the politics.
