Ethnic Groups Reach Roadblock

Tables were set in a C-shape facing a wooden podium where a microphone stood. The board members filled in the chairs as the clock neared 6. When the meeting began, the members of the public, who had signed up to speak, stood up before members of Community Board 5 to plead their causes. A major part of the committee’s agenda consisted of the approval or disapproval of a group of ethnic celebrations to take part in Midtown.

            The atmosphere in the board meeting had a sense of uneasiness as numerous representatives of the ethnic groups stood before the board in the public session in order to speak on behalf of five cultural groups that were planning to have celebratory parades on Madison Avenue between 23^rd and 26^th Streets at various points in the year. One by one members of the Philippine Independence Day Council, Pakistan Day Parade & Fair Committee, Sikh Cultural Society, the Muslim Foundation of America, and the Federation of Indian Association asked for their events to be approved.

            Conflict ensued because the Joint Parks and Consents & Variances committee of Community Board 5 recommended denial of the events until “City Agencies [agreed to] engage in a tripartite dialog with Community Board 5 and the applicant” to find the best venue suited for these growing cultural events. The decision of the board greatly affected the members of these groups who attended the meeting because they wanted the board’s support for the events. The board’s main concern was that as the events grow, the city has to deal with more crowd control, more sanitation problems, and more strain on the communities where these events take place.

            When the decision was made with a unanimous vote to deny approval of the events, the members of the cultural group stood up without making a scene and walked out of the meeting. Dipak Patel, the elected president of the Federation of Indian Association, was angered by the board’s decision. After speaking with him and the other representatives, I realized that their main initiative was to provide a learning experience for the members of the communities of New York City. Patel, originally from Punjab in India but now residing in New Jersey, remarked, “New York City is supposed to be a melting pot, and here I am seeing nothing is being practice. There is a lack of awareness of these celebrations.”

Patel and the various sponsors of the other ethnic groups say that they are open to discussion for the future of the events. They want to compromise but not at the extent of losing the approval of the board. Patel made the fascinating analogy that the board’s denial of these immigrant and religious groups’ events would be similar to an educational institution denying students out of state to come and study in the college.

            David Diamond, a Community Board 5 member and former board president, said in response to the board’s decision, “We denied the request in order to stop and take a look at the problem to figure out a solution.” He remarked that the board’s suggestion does not actually have political power. It is up to the Street Activities Permit Office to supply the groups the permits needed to have these events. Yet support of the community board in which the events take place seems like a necessity in order to have a successful celebration.