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The Day I Went to the NY Giants Ticker Tape Parade down Broadway

Walking out of the subway station on Rector I ended up on Trinity Place a chip shot field goal from Broadway at any other time but today it might as well have been in Patriot's land with all the police barricades positioned so that no one could get within a block of Broadway.  People were confused and only a little upset since they felt they had enough time to discover a secret passageway to the parade route.  Just as many fans were going uptown as downtown on Trinity Place looking for an opening but our public defenders weren't going to let any quickfooted Cruz squeeze through to make a dash towards Broadway goal line. 

I ended up walking north.  The Northerners seemed younger and more determined and they probably explored every opening downtown. Besides the parade would end at Worth street and crowds may thin out away from the canyon.  But I stopped at Zuccotti Park and positioned myself on the sidewalk before a line of police cars.  The action was so far away that I kept moving my camera around to catch any interesting face painting or costume. But mosltlyl regular folks not having a clue where they were going or will end up.

This is where I decided make my stand.  The view was distant but  fair and as the crowds pressed closer  I didn't have anyone behind me that would push me forward when the parade got closer.  It took some time before you could hear the growing cacophony of cheers and horns and the first bus approached.  

I reached up as high as I could with my video camera but didn't really know if I was catching anything.  See the video.  Luck and faith in my skills would not look favorably on my clumsy attempts.  This location would not do and accepted that I would not be better moving.  Standing next to me was an short elderly woman with a hand painted sign who asked me to take her picture with her camera.  I obliged and aced a picture of her standing in front of many posteriors.  She said that she really came to see the confetti but it looked like the best that she would see would be some toilet paper that landed awkwardly on some of the trees like a discarded Christmas decoration.  A sharp looking well-dressed woman approached one of the cops and said that she had a meeting on the other side of Broadway and could she get across.  Of course, that was impossible but the officer tried to be helpful and suggested that she call the office and ask someone to come down and escort her across Broadway.  Yeah, right.  She spun around turned and disappeared into the surging crowds that were now positioning themselves for any kind of view.  I think she needed to plan ahead.

This would not do, I told myself and headed south where a police officer on one of the cross streets suggested that I may get a break if I get down to Water Street.  It was obvious the parade experience was over for me since what would be the point of ending up at the start of the parade.  I began taking video of the crowds when I noticed a small cross street with a number of people heading up some stairs.  I quickly followed them around a barricarde that was slightly pushed open and never turned around not wanting to draw attention to my good luck.  My camera was still running but I held it down so I would not look like a rabid fan sneaking down to the field boxes.  And in a moment I was on a corner five people deep but in the red zone of the parade.  And suddenly there I was jus a few steps from Broadway among throngs of cheering straining to catch sight of some big guys named the NY Giants.

 I couldn't believe my good fortune.

You could see the bands play through the shouts  and cheers that were like waves rising and falling among among the eager but polite masses .  The excitement as buses and the floats slowly made their way up Broadway with anticipation and excitement.  I knew I could only identify a few of the Giants players but it really didn't matter.  It was being in this seething tsunami of humanity cheering, happy, emotional not holding back their feelings of exuberance and joy.  It was easy to get caught up in the exuberance of the moment  There were many young children in the crowd who clung tightly to their parents but embraced the thrill of it all.  Then in a single moment we received a real treat when some of the defensive squad pumped their fists followed by wave after wave of pumping fists from the crowds.. "dee fence.,,,dee fence,  dee fence.  It got louder and more urgent as the clenched fists responded to each call.  It was a great moment.

A couple of bands and a few buses later it was over.  But if the parade was over the many young people who took the day off from school were still in party mode and when Jose Torres the reporter from Channel 7 and his cameraman approached a group of groupies they went wild pushed open the barricards and began chanting even louder as if they could keep the spirit of the morning alive for even a few more minutes. The sanitation teams immediately got to work pushing the "confettii" into white mounds of every type of paper  for the plows and front loaders  to cart away.

Jose Torress of Channel 7 appeared with a cameraman and that set off the crowd of mostly teenagers who hadn't expended all of their youthful energy and gathered ominously around the news team