Here are more photos from June 6th 2010. These exclusively depict the actual official parade and the Festival del Coqui which followed.
I mention this because there has been confusion over where the real parade took place.The official parade route began on Wethersfield Avenue and continued on Main Street. It did not go on Franklin Avenue or Park Street.
The burnouts and off the wall behavior that one would expect at the Mardi Gras or perhaps following a day-long drinking binge after St. Patrick’s Day were essentially absent from the real parade. All of the evening photos and videos in the previous post were taken at “spontaneous parades” which happen every year but are not part of the official Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade. From the images, you can see a huge demographic difference between the two — one features a mix of people in age range, personality, and conduct. The other features mostly teens, and young adults who are behaving boisterously. While Park Street (where the evening faux parade occurred) is always vibrant, it is usually not a hotbed of crazier-than-normal automobile activity.
With that said, I don’t mind a little controlled chaos two days out of the year, just so long as nobody gets hurt. There have been times when parades and other large public gatherings have been tainted by violence. As far as I know, Sunday’s parade was not one of them.
The official Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade traveled down Wethersfield Avenue and Main Street on Sunday, but an unofficial pre-parade began the night before on Park Street and continued until at least three in the morning. I have included photos and videos from both events.
The Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade has been happening in Connecticut for 47 years — longer than the Greater Hartford St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
To the left is a photo of cars doing burnouts on Park Street. This happened about once every five or ten minutes.
Horns and hollering could be heard at least two blocks away.
For most of the evening there was nary a cop in sight on Park Street.
On Saturday, Hartford will be hosting the annual Connecticut PRIDE Rally and Festival in Bushnell Park. It starts at noon, ends around 7pm, and will feature singer Inaya Day. I’m still waiting for the day when there is an actual parade and political edge to the Hartford event, but at least they chose a musician with an impressive resume this year.
Someone recently asked “PR parade is also next weekend (Sun) wonder what the gay boricuas will do.” Well, a weekend has two days, my friend.
Sunday is the Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade and Festival del Coqui. If you look carefully, you’ll notice that the name of the parade has slightly changed, as it is hosted only by CICD (Connecticut Institute for Community Development) this year, and there is a new board of directors.
CICD says, “We are a new board that is trying to keep this beautiful cultural tradition alive by implementing different element such as the red carpet VIP area, celebrity hosts and cultural costumes and floats.” Celebrities?! If we start the rumor that Ricky Martin is among them, do you think we could get him to come to Hartford?
The parade begins at corner of Wawarme and Wethersfield Avenues (edge of Colt Park) at 11 a.m. and heads up Main Street, ending at Central Row and Prospect Street. From there, people can head to the Riverfront where Festival del Coqui will follow from 2-8 p.m.
The press release promises that, “There will be many surprises throughout the parade route with some celebrity appearances on floats. At the Festival del Coqui audiences will enjoy Spanish food, local cultural entertainment, and a battle of salsa bands that will allow the audience to select the winner.”
I’m already seeing people getting their cars ready for the parade. If you have never been to Hartford before during the Puerto Rican parade, I’d suggest giving yourself plenty of time to find parking or arrange detours. Better yet, just walk.
The final community listening session for the Planning & Zoning Commission will be Tuesday evening at Rawson School. So far, there have been sessions at the Pope Park Rec Center, United Methodist Church, and Metzner Rec Center. Each session has focused on proposed land use for nearby neighborhoods. Continue reading 'Proposed Land Use for Hartford’s Neighborhoods'»
Two days ago Cityline published a letter that Rich Wareing sent to numerous individuals regarding the plan to house a “no freeze” shelter at the Center Church downtown. He wrote:
Indeed, that Mr. McGovern would seriously consider locating a facilty which the City estimates will be 50% utilized by registered sex offenders across the street from two apartment buildings, three blocks from a magnet high school, and right in the middle of the most signficant business and entertainment district in the city, speaks volumes about the City’s disregard for the welfare of its voters, taxpayers, visitors, and children.
While keeping sex offenders away from youth sounds like an altruistic goal, I believe this argument is deceptive. Here’s why:
In the past, Hartford has had a no freeze shelter. This is not a brand new creation. The previous one was housed at 255 Washington Street, but a mile — if walking – from the new one. I even created a map to show this:
What do you notice about the location of the old shelter on Washington Street? For someone with no familiarity with Hartford, the only two things that really should grab his attention would be that it was located in a very residential area, as one can see a number of houses nearby, and that it was very close to the Connecticut Childrens Medical Center. Continue reading 'No Homeless: The Special Just-in-time-for-Thanksgiving Edition'»
After a few days away, I returned to find obnoxious (but fairly routine) comments littering the Topix forum that one is routed to from the online Hartford Courant.
On my trip, I was thinking about civic pride and the need for community and cooperation between neighboring towns. I am not talking about these qualities on a political level, but on a personal level. There is community here, within the city, but it’s not something that gets much press. Crime and corruption are made public. Poverty and illiteracy are treated as mascots for my city.
What does not make the news are the minutiae.
One Friday night I gathered with a half dozen women to eat local pizza in the host’s dining room. We wolfed down three pizzas and laughed. Nobody got shot or stabbed.
Last week, I ventured with a friend and two of her children to Colt Park. We were hoping to catch a women’s rugby game. Though it seemed to be canceled, we picked up some delicious goodies from Modern Pastry, watched runners cross the finish line at the Hartford Marathon in Bushnell Park, and then headed to La Paloma Sabanera for an actual lunch. At the coffee house, we ran into more friends. Again, nobody got shot or stabbed. Continue reading 'Words vs. Pictures'»
I like to avoid talking about race, mostly because whenever it comes up, people get defensive, they shut down, and then nothing productive comes of it. So, I don’t really want to go there, but there is here.
I think it’s really hard to talk about transportation without pointing out the obvious– only a particular demographic is fuel addicted in America. When the idea of reducing private motorized transportation comes up in certain circles, it’s deemed radical (or too radical). It should not be. The reality is that many Americans do not own automobiles. If, however, a person lives in an area where the ethnic and racial groups with low rates of vehicle ownership do not tend to live, there can be a distorted idea of how life is for everyone everywhere.
The 40-Year Plan reports that a building in my old neighborhood was razed. Even though it was abandoned and often covered in spraypaint, I loved this building and thought it could be fixed up. I don’t have anything really insightful to say. It’s just too bad. It could’ve been a community center or homeless shelter, or one of the things Ken names in his post.
The Syracuse Cultural Workers created a poster which I’m sure many readers have seen before, but which I feel compelled to discuss regardless. The items in bold are on their list of ways to build community, and my comments are in a regular font.
Think of no one as “them”: Creating categories based on difference allows individuals to more easily justify the unjustifiable, to excuse the inexcusable. The result? When some kind of crime or wrongdoing occurs in an certain area or to a person who belongs to a different group (race, class, sexuality, ability, gender, religion, political affiliation, you name it…), it is not thought of as something that might concern all in society. Thus, it’s remains to be addressed in a productive way. The “answer” goes something like this: “avoid Hartford,” “bulldoze it and start over,” “more prisons,” “send criminals/undesirables to Springfield.” Those sentiments are not productive by any stretch of the imagination.
Don’t confuse your comfort with your safety: In my walks to work, I have felt discomfort. In my old neighborhood, I would pass a homeless shelter and park where people who were basically up to no good, or had no other place to go, would congregate. Even with the verbal street harassment which made the trip sometimes irritating, I never felt unsafe. Continue reading 'How to Build Community (Against All Odds): Part One'»
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Continue reading 'Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade: Part Two'»
The official Greater Hartford Puerto Rican Day Parade traveled down Wethersfield Avenue and Main Street on Sunday, but an unofficial pre-parade began the night before on Park Street and continued until at least three in the morning. I have included photos and videos from both events.
The final community listening session for the Planning & Zoning Commission will be Tuesday evening at Rawson School. So far, there have been sessions at the Pope Park Rec Center, United Methodist Church, and Metzner Rec Center. Each session has focused on proposed land use for nearby neighborhoods.
