BY KRISTEN ANCILLOTTI | This year’s Pride celebrations held a special historic importance, as the 50th anniversary of Stonewall was commemorated and WorldPride was held in the United States for the first time, bringing in significantly more people than usual for June 30’s Pride March.

The March took a different path than previous years, beginning near Madison Square Park, making its way past The Stonewall Inn, and concluding at W. 23rd St. and Seventh Ave. In anticipation of bigger crowds and potential concerns of residents, volunteers for Heritage of Pride (HOP), the organizers of NYC Pride, worked in tandem with the NYPD to safely and calmly disperse the parade and prevent those attending from filling up residential side streets in the hopes that their safeguards would make the March a pleasant experience for as many people as possible.

“Our main concern is the safety of the public—we wanted everyone to enjoy the Pride March safely,” said Capt. Kevin J. Coleman, commanding officer of the NYPD’s 10th Precinct, in an email. He explained that the City, NYPD, and HOP had been preparing for the March and related WorldPride events for at least a year. “The bulk of the planning on our end is to maintain pedestrian and vehicular traffic and crowd control in the safest manner possible,” he said.

Beginning at the parade end point at W. 23rd St. and Seventh Ave., HOP volunteers held signs letting those in the March know that they were at the end of the parade route, and it was time to turn off their music and disperse onto select side streets. W. 24th St. through W. 29th St. had been designated as dispersal blocks, according to Capt. Coleman. As the floats and marchers made their way down Seventh Ave. towards the dispersal streets, another line of volunteers directed them to Eighth Ave., where street traffic picked up again.

Each closed cross street was blocked by barricades and multiple police officers who allowed passage to those with proofs of address, or letters indicating they were permitted on the street. For those who were not permitted, they were politely redirected to a street where they could cross and get to their destination.

As far as what this reporter saw over the course of the day, crowd dispersals and redirections occurred without incident. Both volunteers and police officers enforced the rules in a cordial manner, and those attending the March responded in kind, making their way through the dispersal areas fairly quickly, or finding alternative paths to get where they were going.

Capt. Coleman confirmed that the process flowed well. “At the 10th Precinct, we received very few complaints related to the parade and there was no serious crime in Chelsea related to WorldPride 2019,” he said.

Penn South resident Stephanie Ripple’s daughter was marching in the parade, and Ripple attended with her dog Clementine in tow. As she headed home to give Clementine a break from the revelry, she commented that the crowds were bigger this year, but had not created any problems that she had seen. “It kind of starts and ends in our neighborhood,” she said. “It’s been super awesome. I love it!”

One resident chose to stay home for the day. “I was really nervous, because I live near where the parade ends,” said Bevin Black, who had ventured out to walk her dog. She previously lived in what she called “the heart of it” in the West Village, and had experienced all that comes with being in the middle of the action. “This block was fine though, because they barricaded it. It’s actually easier to get down the street today than on a regular day. It’s noisy, and there’s the confetti, but it’s been good.”

The smoothly operating crowd control allowed those attending to simply focus on the fun. Iliana Squeli from Staten Island, who was attending her first Pride March, had chosen to march with the group NYC Human Rights to show support. “Oh my God, it’s amazing,” she said with an effusive smile. When asked if she’ll return next year, she said, “Oh, yes! This was awesome!”

Far more experienced, but no less enthusiastic were Flo Giordano and Marcia Bass, partners of 35 years who have attended Pride since the 1980s. The New Yorkers declared (in unison) that the community of Pride is what brings them back year after year, as well as the sense of unity.

Another group having a particularly nice day were the business owners who were enjoying their location along the new parade route. Sun-ae Song, owner of Chelsea Wine Cellar, said her business definitely picked up this year. “There are a lot more customers than last year, because this year the parade is on Seventh Ave.,” said Song. “It helped a lot.”

Song said that their biggest sellers were cocktails in a can and sparkling wine with a Pride theme. A little further down the road, Mike Ali from the Smoke Shop on Seventh Ave. said he saw beer and soda sales increase, and hopes that the parade continues down this route in the future.

There was one business that had no way to compare previous sales, because they had not yet officially opened. East One Coffee Roasters, at the corner of W. 23rd St. and Seventh Ave., decided to do a soft opening for the March, and they were pleased with their turnout. When asked why they decided to go ahead and open their doors for the day, Selina Ullrich, director of coffee for the new shop said, “We’re all gay, so it was fitting.”

Whether it was a HOP volunteer cheering an elaborate outfit, a small business relishing a particularly successful day, or someone enjoying their first March experience, there was a sense of joy, openness and warmth on display that was contagious. Through extensive planning and cooperation, the Pride March was a large-scale celebration that took the needs of residents into consideration, while keeping the historic event lively and fun for those attending. It was a good day.

Chelsea Community News is made possible with the help of our awesome advertisers, and the support of our readers. If you like what you see, please consider taking part in our GoFundMe campaign (click here). To make a direct donation and/or send feedback about the site, send an email to Scott@chelseacommunitynews.com.