Saturday, October 26, 2013

Scenes From 2013 Roosevelt Island Main Street Halloween Parade - Fun Times For Kids Of All Ages

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon today for the annual Roosevelt Island Main Street Halloween Parade


as kids of all ages got dressed up and marched from Blackwell House


following a truckload of ghouls


to Capobianco Field for rides, games and a magic show.


Good job by the staff of the Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC)

Image Of RIOC President Charlene Indelicato and Canine Friend

Image of RIOC Staff

Roosevelt Landings Urban American and the Roosevelt Island Youth Program in organizing today's Halloween Extravaganza.

Here's today's Roosevelt Island Halloween Parade and



magic show,



UPDATE 11/5 - More Halloween fun from the Roosevelt Island Youth Program:

20 comments :

Bill Blass said...

Yes its so good to see people having fun

Bill Blass said...

The Europeans who have moved onto the island are very rude.they cut the line. We old timers on the island never had this problem before.these Europeans think that their kids are better than ours.a few Times they cut the line right in front of me I told them to get to the back of the line they got mad and said something that was not in English.but I said I don't care what the hell you said just get in the back of the line. And of couse they did.this is the new type of people moving on to the island.

Bill Blass said...

The only people working today so the hipsters could have a good time were the people from eastwood and 2 4 river road.I am sure the hipsters are thankful that they and their kids had a enjoyable day

commonsense540 said...

Listen this day was started by the Roosevelt Island Youth Program to bring residents together, just like their Roosevelt island Day, please show respect and refrain from the negativity.

Bill Blass said...

I saw the same people on the hot dog line 20 times. Don't these people have food at home

CheshireKitty said...

It's true that initially some newcomers from Europe can be pushy. I used to see this all the time back in Brooklyn years ago. At first it bothered me, but then I ignored it. Little things like not making room on the sidewalk - on a regular-sized sidewalk on side-streets, not yielding or politely sharing the sidewalk, walking two abreast, as if they own the sidewalk, and so forth. I once saw an E. European woman ahead of me on a checkout line actually take one the tomatoes I had carefully selected and add it to her purchases. It was no use arguing with them. They eventually pick up better manners, then they become like us in all respects.


In some ethnic enclaves though, the backward behavior never ends. I was at a 99-cent store in Greenpoint not too long ago, and was waiting on line to check out. I guess I was seen as chopped liver since I did not seem to be of the precise E. European ethnic group of a couple of male shoppers, who plowed right by me and insisted on being served first. The store owner, who was Asian, was appalled by the rudeness but didn't dare admonish the two rather rough looking guys, who also looked like they might have been drinking, although it was only late in the afternoon. I didn't care - I'm not about to start a fight over a place in a line, it's not worth it. So I let them get ahead of me, as unfair and boorish as they were.


If they emerged from their ethnic enclave and tried that elsewhere, they might get push-back. Because they usually stay within their own majority E. European ethnic neighborhood, they can evidently spot those not of their precise E. European origin and "put them in their places" for whatever reason (probably no real reason, probably just for the heck of it).

CheshireKitty said...

I heard RIOC - along with its sponsors - must have spent thousands of dollars on food/games and so forth.


To balance the daylight "fun" activities, RIOC should sponsor a night-time horror movie screening, ask people to come as a character for free admission etc. Even a screening of non-horror but cult classic Rocky Horror would be fun. Any of the Ed Norton films, and of course the Vincent Price canon. Or something from the sci-fi genre. Any of this would put the "horror" back in Halloween!

Bill Blass said...

No I see this mosly by Europeans lets not sugar coat this

CheshireKitty said...

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Bill on this. Europeans tend to look down on us, and the arrogance is translated into being inconsiderate. It eventually wears off the longer they're here. I really haven't seen the same thing with other ethnic groups. Africans especially are always nice, friendly, and kind, even if they do not speak English initially. Asians also tend to be polite.

Westviewer said...

Please meet me in front of Starbucks and point out the hipsters.

Bill Blass said...

Yes of course.and do you know what buildings these kids live in.take one guess

Bill Blass said...

Only if you buy me one of the starbucks coffee with the very long name and the high price that the hipsters buy in the morning that holds up the line when poor saps like me just want a regular cup of coffee.and get the hell out.

Frank Farance said...

Paris, March 2003, when US started bombing Iraq: Regardless of political differences, I was treated with courtesy/respect wherever I went. It was obvious I was from the US, but instead of having crappy US behavior of US Senators renaming French Fries to Freedom Fries (because of France's lack of support for the US invasion), I was in the French Senate advocating for respect for cultural differences in learning technologies. Sure there were political differences, and they were treated with respect.


When in Europe, I've found that if you start your thinking with: there are important languages other than English, and there are important cultural artifacts that don't originate in Hollywood, then you get treated differently.



And the tearjerker: When you're driving the small roads in the countryside (on my way to Monet's garden) and you see the occasional sign that says "An American Soldier Died Here For The Freedom Of France", it's nice to be reminded of times when one was focused upon Higher Ideals.

CheshireKitty said...

But how focused were the French upon the Higher Ideal of defending their own country in the war?


Sure was neighborly of us to throw thousands of American youth onto Normandy beaches to die in invading Europe, and saving it from Hitler.


If the French are so great, maybe even "culturally superior" to us, why couldn't they fight like us when the blitzkrieg swept through France in Spring 1940? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_France

Frank Farance said...

France, suffering existential threat by larger, more capable enemy: we're supposed to feel culturally superior, simply because we have more Might? It's horrific/stupid that some people take that "we saved you, thus we're superior" snotty attitude. I always cringe when I hear that kind of talk.

OldRossie said...

I take offense to this. There are obvious cultural behaviors that differ across the board, but saying "Europeans tend to look down on us" is a hostile remark. Do you recall your lashing-out the last time someone made a comment about the Jewish?

OldRossie said...

well put.

CheshireKitty said...

Many European countries that were a lot smaller than the German juggernaut fought harder than France. France folded - and then, further shamefully, mostly cooperated. You can cringe all you want, but facts don't lie.

There's probably still an element of resentment on the part of Europeans in having to admit they were not only unable to repel the invader by themselves but then also needed years of assistance to get back on their feet. Quite a bit of US assistance flowed to Europe after the war, as well as quite a few US bases had to be constructed throughout W. Europe so as to continue to defend these countries. It was only natural that culturally, Europe dropped French and universally adopted American English as their second language, as well as many of our "important cultural artifacts" including those that "originate in Hollywood" (although cinema influences were always a two-way street from the beginning).
So much for European superiority, cultural, military, all aspects - hah!



The only thing the Europeans excelled in throughout their history was slaughtering each other.

CheshireKitty said...

I don't see the contradiction in being pro-Jewish and having a negative attitude in general with regard to Europeans. In case you missed it, Jews were largely eliminated from the continent of Europe during the war - something the Nazis could not have done without the assistance/cooperation of the local population in each occupied country. Thus, of course I'd keep Europeans at arm's length, especially if I was pro-Jewish.


Having said that, my remark was "Europeans tend to look down on us" - not that all Europeans invariably are rude to all Americans. Frank even gives an example of the French actually not being rude to him, a visiting American, despite the widespread stories that the French, and Parisians in particular, are many times most judgmental and dismissive of tourists. Americans who tell these stories of the French being "nice" contribute to dispelling the negative stereotypes about the unfriendly French that have accumulated over the years. Unfortunately, the impression that the French are unfriendly, judgmental, arrogant, and rude to visitors didn't just get invented out of thin air... It isn't just some irrational anti-French prejudice. And you can see how the French attitude of superiority in all things left them resting on their imaginary laurels - the "invincible" Maginot line - when they should have been learning from other countries and preparing instead a mechanized, as well as air, defense, instead of a static line of defense reminiscent of the entrenchments in which the Europeans became so hopelessly bogged down during the first World War. But nobody then could tell the "superior" French what to do, since they always felt they knew better - and still do.


I've also said that European immigrants tend to blend in after a while, and become absorbed into American life and ways, at which point they're no different than anyone else.


Having observed them in contrast to others, such as Africans and Asians, I would say Europeans are the least nice, initially. So Bill wasn't completely off base in noting the rudeness at the Halloween event "mostly by Europeans".

CheshireKitty said...

Remember, my remark was "Europeans tend to look down on us" - not that all Europeans invariably are rude to all Americans.


As for the French, I said the idea of the French being rude to non-French isn't just an irrational stereotype - it is based on fact.

I didn't say anything about all stereotypes - I said this one stereotype or preconception is built on the fact of many stories of rudeness to tourists visiting France. These are two different things: The fact of an unfriendly population, upon which a stereotype is built.

There are also stereotypes that are built on plain old prejudice, or lies, not on any facts, such as, for example, the notion that all Scotsmen are cheap, or that all Italians are in the Mafia. The list of ethnic stereotypes goes on and on: These stereotypes are of course false. Even if there may be some cheap Scotsmen and there are certainly some Italians who are in the Mafia, that doesn't mean all Scots are cheap and all Italians are Mafiosi.

As far as the non-German contribution to the Holocaust is concerned, of course it occurred, to a lesser or greater extent, in each country or area Germany conquered and occupied.

Bill was not saying Europeans were rude on the subway, he was saying he observed them acting boorishly at the RI Halloween fair. I agreed that Europeans can be pushy, annoying, and boorish, at least at first. Later, when they have been in the US for a few months, they blend in and are no different than anyone else.