Mayor Bill de Blasio doubled down Friday on his decision to
bless Black Lives Matter marches wherever and whenever they may happen while pulling the permits for the Big Apple’s usual slate of summertime parades and street festivals due to the threat posed by large gatherings amid the coronavirus.
“I’ve said many times — the protests, this is a particular moment in history where 400 years of oppression, 400 years of racism are being addressed in a very powerful way,” Hizzoner said. “That can’t compare to anything else.”
De Blasio made the remarks after again reiterating that it would be unsafe to allow parades and festivals that often bring tens of thousands to the streets because of the risk of transmitting COVID-19 — and the need to use the city’s public space and resources to bolster its street closure programs for pedestrians and restaurants.
City Hall said Thursday that the ban on such cultural heritage parades and street fairs as the Dominican Day Parade, the West Indian American Carnival and the San Gennaro Festival will
last through at least Sept. 30.
“It just made more sense to keep the focus on what is working now, to maximize the space available to people and not have it taken up by large events. Right now, what people are doing,” de Blasio added, “is they’re getting fresh air and recreation the right way, with a lot of devotion to social distancing and face coverings.”
“That can’t happen if events are interfering with the way we’ve set things up. It just makes more sense not to have them,” he said, although most of the events are one-day affairs.
Event organizers told The Post they were frustrated
by the seeming double standard from City Hall between their parades and the protests fueled by outrage over the videotaped killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody in May.
“The mayor is being inconsistent for allowing the protests without people practicing social distancing or wearing masks,” said Angelo Vivolo, who chairs the Columbus Citizens Foundation that puts on the annual Columbus Day parade in October — the fate of which remains up in the air.
nypost.com
