Solution for a Rained-Out Parade

The Freeman reports today that the Mardi Gras parade is cancelled because the Rondout Business Association doesn’t have the funds to pay for insurance and police overtime. The other planned events remain a go.

In the case of the parade, which includes four floats and kids in costume, why not still have it, but create a modified version of it? The parade can line up at lower Broadway right near the Downtown Cafe and proceed West along that service road. One end of the parking lot can be closed off and there could be another barricade on the starting corner.

A few barricades. That’s it. It could function just like the block parties held in Kingston where a street is closed off with barricades. There’s no police presence, and no insurance for block parties, right? And the city regulary closes off streets. For this function, the parade can proceed slowly down a narrow street that opens into a parking lot. Just a throught…

— Arthur Zaczkiewicz