West Indian-American Day Parade
Would love to head over this year for the first time. Any advice for a newbie? Where to view, how early, etc?
Comments
-
it is a slooooow moving parade.
For us, we don't go until the early afternoon - We start at Franklin Ave usually around 12:30 or 1pm and walk against the parade (you then see it twice as fast) walking towards Utica Ave. When we get tired/hot/too full of food (it's like a buffet lunch, picking up the next course as you walk) we either turn around or get on the 4 from Utica back to Franklin depending on how hot/crowded it is. -
For cheaper and better food, go further east.
The most expensive food is between Washington and GAP ....avoid it. -
Since it's your first time- it won't make any difference what side you're on. Just realize that you're pretty much going to be stuck on one side. There are cross points during the parade where the cops will let people cross, but the wait can be at least 1/2 hour. Don't plan on crossing underneath at the subway stations. They've planned for this and have them all blocked off. Choose your side wisely and have fun- it's a total blast!
-
If you are going for some good eats, keep an eye out for "Shark Bake" Doubles and Roti..
Xliz is right, it a total walking buffet! -
I think you meant shark and bake.
-
YUP! :fish: =P~
-
My advice: go early. In my opinion, the crowds get way out of control by the middle of the afternoon. And, by out of control, I mean feeling like I could get crushed over by Franklin Avenue. If you can at all manage to walk to an open subway station, as xlizellx suggests, then do it.
Also it's pretty loud. That's okay, but if you're sensitive to it, or concerned about your ears, then bring some earplugs.
Mmm shark & bake. Had a roti a couple of weeks ago, but it's been ages since a shark & bake. Did anyone find a good non-parade source of this dish? I remember that it was being discussed a couple of years ago. -
go really early. like 3 or 4am.
jouvert!
don't wear nice clothes, you might get baby powder'd. -
Subject: please be kind to the residents on eastern parade day
i moved to eastern parkway before i knew about this parade and come that day, i couldn't get out of my bldg because of the crowd. my poor dog couldn't get out for his walks either. i was essentially held hostage unintentionally. now i flee as far as the upper east side (which i hate!) just to avoid the mobs of obnoxious ppl littering and keeping residents from enjoying anything. you all come to the parade to enjoy it, but never think about what the residents who live on eastern have to deal with come the day after. the mess is smelly and disgusting. the amount of food and garage left behind is just down right nasty. even though the city cleans up come monday... they do a horrible job and there is food still lying on the ground for months till the birds, rats or feral cats eat it all. All while dog owners who walk their pups on eastern have to constantly dodge the food so their pups don't eat it! Its a nightmare mostly. So, please do enjoy the parade, but be kind to the people who live on the block and just want their block to be a clean place after the festivities. cheers -
This parade, along with the thanksgiving parade and the puerto rican parade, are the city's largest public events. It is a massive Buffett-parade attended by upwards of 1 million people (as per the news reports). There is litter from the massive party, but I think overall the city does a good job of hosting the event and cleaning up the mess. Walk your dog very early or very late for best results. Have an excellent weekend and enjoy the jerk chicken smells for the next week, unless rain washes it away this year....
-
does anyone know if there is a way to steal a free peak at the brooklyn museum shows this weekend? i kinda want to catch part of brass fest, but i don't feel like paying $40!
i guess at the least i can get as close as i can and listen for free -
The parade is great fun. The outdoor shows suck big time.
We tried to think of another densley populated neighborhood in NYC which allows an outdoor concert (with pounding, heavily amped music) to take over for several days. And go on until 2:30 AM. -
Yep, there's party going on right now. Sounds like they're having a blast! :dj:
-
I love Labor Day Weekend in this neighborhood! It's the only holiday I request off all year!
-
Subject: Follow the Money
Most of our Prospect Heights neighbors plan to make sure they're not home during the West Indian Carnival Festival. Why are so many Brooklyn residents put in this terrible situation?
It all comes down to economics and politics.
The Festival charges $40 per night.
The Brooklyn Museum of Art, profoundly financially challenged, can't say no. The Museum is guaranteed a general fee plus a percentage of the box-office.
Because of the non-profit status of the Festival, they are exempt from labor regulations. For most organizations, it would be absurdly expensive for an open-air concert to continue past 11 PM because of union rules. But the West Indian Carnival Festival has exploited this weakness. Who cares about the hundreds of families forced to put up with this bullshit? It all comes down to politics.
Af -
It's once a year, and a longstanding neighborhood tradition. Most of the "hundreds of families" that have been here for years enjoy it. Suck it up.
-
Subject: Re: Follow the Money
ste3021878 wrote: Most of our Prospect Heights neighbors plan to make sure they're not home during the West Indian Carnival Festival. Why are so many Brooklyn residents put in this terrible situation?
wow, I hope you're kidding. This is a great event, a mostly positive one (honestly, the steel-drum groups of high school kids is one of the best things in the Crown Heights, Flatbush, and East Flatbush neighborhoods going on in public schools right now), and millions of people enjoy it.
....
Who cares about the hundreds of families forced to put up with this bullshit -
Hello, the issue is not that the concerts would not be enjoyable and positive for those attending, but that it tramples on the rights of residents to get a good night's sleep from Thursday through Sunday nights . To anyone who states we just ought to sit back and enjoy it - well I can only imagine you go to one concert, then back home and sleep in a much quieter environment and then head over for the parade on Monday. The amplification hits the whole neighborhood. Try to sleep when you have a thump thump "Yo Brooklyn!" all night long going on which you can't escape even with a closed window. I could not believe my eyes when I spotted the advertisements for these concerts scheduled to last to 1am Thursday night (it went past 1:30am) and 3am for the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday concerts. It would be one thing if it was in an indoor venue, or at least a decibel controlled environment, respecting the neighbors.
-
i really, really, really hate loud stuff keeping me awake. and i like to go to bed pretty early.
but. c'mon. it's one weekend, and it's one of the coolest events in the city.
moreover, unlike an loud party in a shared backyard or my *&%^(#* neighbor's 3am stereo needs, this noise is entirely predictable in advance. since it happens on a holiday weekend, why not just leave town? -
sweet tea wrote: i really, really, really hate loud stuff keeping me awake. and i like to go to bed pretty early.
Seriously, I live in Flatbush and this whole neighborhood is absolutely nutty for that whole weekend with partiers, costumes, bands, police, police barricades, etc. and I just sit back and enjoy the fact that I live somewhere that people know how to have a good time!
but. c'mon. it's one weekend, and it's one of the coolest events in the city.
moreover, unlike an loud party in a shared backyard or my *&%^(#* neighbor's 3am stereo needs, this noise is entirely predictable in advance. since it happens on a holiday weekend, why not just leave town? -
Getting away would be the ideal answer - No one should have to be chased out of their own neighborhood . Not everyone, due to various individual circumstances can just pick up and leave for five days. It is not just a single event, and it's not just a weekend: It is four overly long, intrusive concerts on consecutive evenings, Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sunday, followed by the Monday parade. I am all for great concert events, I always check out the Summerstage and Celebrate Brooklyn concerts. The difference is that those are strictly regulated to begin and end at reasonable times, are at reasonable decibel levels, and take place inside a park and not blasting through people's windows at 1am, 2am or 3am. I would like to take a relaxed attitude, but, you see, I am a bit sleep deprived at the moment.
-
it sounds like a hipster was baited into living in the 'up and coming' neighborhood by Realtors. However, it seems he/she did not do his/her homework about the culture and history of the 'new neighborhood' . (Coughs), nobody lives in 'the city' for sleep and quite, that's what the 'burbs' are for....
The majority of people in that neighborhood for generations appreciate the parade . It's not for the hipsters, it never was......
Although, the hipsters continue to live in the 'new condos' that have displaced the families that have lived there for decades, now they think they have the right to complain about their traditions.... -
Subject: Re: please be kind to the residents on eastern parade day
kasmircat wrote: you all come to the parade to enjoy it, but never think about what the residents who live on eastern
Are you serious? :roll: -
Brooklyn Dan wrote: The difference is that those are strictly regulated to begin and end at reasonable times, are at reasonable decibel levels
Actually, they are not AND the people who live near some of these venues complain about the noise, crowds, and garbage. -
this transplant (though hopefully not a hipster!) is in love with trini music and food and can't wait to see his first j'ouvert.
-
Smiling at the hipster scenario. I've lived in Brooklyn and also around other New York neighborhoods most of my life. Now I'm back living in Brooklyn with my girlfriend in a rental apartment, who has been in the Prospect Heights neighborhood for a couple of decades. This neighborhood is not any one thing, it's a multiplicity of ethnicities and different socioeconomic backgrounds. We have old people, young, people, people of every stripe and persuasion. I like the West Indian Parade as much as anyone else, and I also like Caribbean music. But the residents of the neighborhood should not be subjected to amplified music which gets super loud PAST midnight each night for 4 nights straight, I don't care if it's classical, folk, sufi, or what have you. There is such a thing as a reasonable decibel level in a residential neighborhood at certain hours.
-
talk about being a total square.
-
Hipsters, squares, triangles. We're all in this thing together. Let's find a way to live together. To celebrate and not to aggravate. . To find ways to express, without causing any stress. To inspire, not to flame the fires.
-
It was a blast, just like the years before. Fun, friendly, great neighborhood vibe. Everyone dancing, eatin and having the time of their lives young and old alike.
Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
- 40K All Categories
- 27.1K Neighborhoods
- 5.1K Crown Heights/Prospect Lefferts Gardens
- 7.1K Prospect Heights
- 2.3K Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy
- 8K Park Slope
- 549 Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick
- 442 Flatbush/Midwood/Ditmas Park
- 657 BoCoCa (Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens)
- 151 Red Hook
- 104 Gowanus
- 304 Bay Ridge/Bensonhurst
- 130 Coney Island, Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay
- 270 Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO and Downtown
- 598 Windsor Terrace / Kensington
- 673 Greenwood Heights and Sunset Park
- 749 Brooklyn and Beyond
- 6.3K Stuff
- 86 Brooklyn Back When
- 1.2K Brooklyn Pets
- 257 Brooklyn Kids
- 241 Brooklyn Eats
- 51 Brooklyn Booze
- 3.6K The Lounge / Random Stuff
- 611 Brooklyn Politics
- 122 Brooklyn Sports and Fitness
- 111 Brooklyn Photos
- 339 Site Issues
- 8 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- 6.2K Listings
- 1.1K APARTMENTS and REAL ESTATE
- 1.3K Sales Openings Events
- 2.3K The Classifieds