RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS
Queens Midtown Tunnel
Monday, March 22, free, sometime after midnight
www.ringling.com
www.mta.info
The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus is coming to town, led by the annual march of the elephants through the Midtown Tunnel and across 34th St. sometime after midnight on Monday. It’s a quick mini-parade featuring the Asian elephants, some horses, maybe a clown or two, and a few Shetland ponies. While the circus is celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of its Center for Elephant Conservation, the ASPCA has a different view of the treatment of the animals, claiming on its Web site, “To attend the elephant walk is to endorse Ringling’s ongoing mistreatment of these intelligent, sensitive, and endangered creatures. We urge compassionate people to avoid this event—as well as the circus itself, which subjects its animal performers to inhumane training methods and unnatural periods of confinement.” We have to admit that although we are not regular circus-goers, we almost always watch the elephant walk, primarily because it passes right by our building. If you do decide to go to the march, be prepared for big crowds and lots of animal rights protesters.