Israel will celebrate its sixty-second birthday on Fifth Ave. on May 23 (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
LIGHTS . . . CAMERA . . . ACTION . . . ISRAEL!
57th to 74th St. up Fifth Ave.
Sunday, May 23, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm
Admission: free
www.salutetoisrael.com
Fifth Ave. will turn blue and white on May 23 as the annual Salute to Israel Parade makes its way from 57th to 74th St., celebrating the sixty-second birthday of the State of Israel. This year’s grand marshal is Meshulam Riklis – yes, the very financier who married Pia Zadora and produced her “breakthrough” film, BUTTERFLY – and features such special guests as Israeli-born Sacramanto King Omri Casspi, boxing champs Yuri Foreman and Dmitriy Salita, supermodel Adi Neumann, and former Knick Allan Houston, who, along with Charlie Ward, made some extremely controversial anti-Semitic remarks back in 2004. Nearly fifty politicians are expected to show that they’re friends of Israel by marching in the parade, along with such participants as the 92nd St. Y, Dor Chadash, the JCC, Rjeneration, Skaters & Bladers for Israel, the UJA, the Chai Riders Motorcyle Club, and dozens of temples and schools. This year’s theme is Lights . . . Camera . . . Action . . . Israel!, as the parade retells the story of the nation’s ongoing heritage. Jews are well known for their digestive problems, so leave it to the parade coordinators to actually include the location of all sixteen portable toilets along the route, just in case that last meal at Katz’s still isn’t sitting quite right.