Tag Archives: columbus circle

COLUMBUS DAY PARADE 2011

Parade and other events celebrate Italian cultural heritage (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Fifth Ave. from 44th to 72nd Sts.
Monday, October 10, free, 11:30 am – 3:00 pm
www.columbuscitizensfd.org

More than one hundred groups and thirty-five thousand marchers will make their way up Fifth Ave. on Monday in celebration of the Italian heritage and the spirit of Christopher Columbus for the sixty-seventh annual Columbus Day Parade. Grand Marshal Joseph Plumeri will lead such participants as Pia Toscano, the Sacred Heart University Marching Band, the Stony Brook University Marching Band, the cast of the musical The Italian Fairy, folk dancers, and many more; past grand marshals have included Paul Sorvino, Bobby Valentine, Dan Marino, Henry Mancini, Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia, Yogi Berra, and Frank Capra. In addition to the centerpiece parade, there is a cultural exhibit in Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall (through October 10), a wreath-laying ceremony in Columbus Circle (October 9, 9:30 – 11:00 am), a mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral (October 10, 9:30 – 10:45 am), and a concert at the Rose Theater in Frederick P. Rose Hall celebrating the 150th anniversary of Italy’s unification, with the Petruzzelli Theater Orchestra from Bari, soprano Marina Shaguch, tenor Massimiliano Pisapia, and Maestro Alberto Veronesi (October 9, $100-$250, 4:00).

GoTOPLESS DAY

Topless women and men in bikini tops will march on Columbus Circle today for gender equality

Central Park to Columbus Circle
Sunday, August 21, 12 noon – 4:00
www.gotopless.org

Have you just been itching to take it off? Tired of silly regulations that allow men to walk around without shirts on but prevent women from letting it all hang out, on the streets as well as at pools and beaches? Well, today is National GoTopless Day, where women are permitted to show their breasts at specific locations all over the country, spreading the message “Topless equal rights for all or none.” Here in New York City, women can hang free from 12 noon to 4:00 pm at Columbus Circle. If you’re a little shy — there will be plenty of people with cameras, so be prepared to be seen all over the internet — you can wear red tape or something else to cover your nipples. Men, meanwhile, are encouraged to show their, er, support by wearing bikini tops, which will be given out on-site, in solidarity. In addition to attending the event, you can sign a petition at the above website that will be presented to the government on Women’s Equality Day next year, August 26, 2012, that in part explains, “Gotopless.org claims the constitutional right of women to go topless in public in the name of gender equality.” As they also say, “Free your breasts! Free your mind!”

COLUMBUS MONUMENT

Columbus towers over redesigned and renovated Columbus Circle plaza (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Columbus Circle Rotary
Intersection of Broadway, Eighth Ave., & 59th St.
http://www.nycgovparks.org

On October 12, 1892, in honor of the four hundredth anniversary of Christopher Columbus sailing into the New World, the newspaper Il Progresso Italo-Americano presented the city with a statue of the famed explorer. Designed by Sicilian sculptor Gaetano Russo and fabricated by Fonderia Nelli in Rome, the Columbus Monument was dedicated “in imperishable remembrance.” Columbus, carved out of Carrara marble, stands atop a seventy-seven-foot-high column, his left hand on his hip, his right hand grasping the rudder behind his back, with his toes dangling perilously over the base, as he looks out upon his supposed discovery.

The Bedford Column is adorned with bronze anchors, the ship prows of the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, and the explorer’s Italian name, Cristoforo Colombo. The east side of the column includes the following quotes: “To Christopher Columbus . . . The Italians, resident in America, / scoffed at before, / during the voyage, menaced, / after it, chained, / as generous as oppressed, / to the world he gave a world.” and “Joy and glory / never uttered a more thrilling call / than that which resounded / from the conquered ocean / in sight of the first American island / Land! Land!” Both quotes are translated in Italian on the opposite side.

Explorer watches over entrance to Columbus Citizens Foundation at 8 East 69th St. (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

COLUMBUS CELEBRATION

Multiple locations
Admission: free
http://www.columbuscitizensfd.org
There are a number of special events surrounding Columbus Day, sponsored by the Columbus Citizens Foundation. Interestingly, with all the debate the past few years over Christopher Columbus and his legacy, the foundation currently declares that it is “committed to fostering an appreciation of Italian-American heritage and achievement . . . through a broad range of philanthropic and cultural activities,” with no mention of the explorer at all.

Monday, October 12 Sixty-fifth annual Columbus Day Parade, Fifth Ave. from 44th to 79th Sts., featuring Grand Marshal Kenneth G. Langone, 11:30 am — 3:00 pm

Through Saturday, October 17 Exhibits in Vanderbilt Hall, including “Veneto: The Future Has an Antique Heart,” a Bridge between Venice and New YorkGrand Central Terminal, 7:00 am — 10:00 pm