Spirits soared despite the searing heat
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The fourth annual Staten Island Gay Pride march created up some controversy. Initially, the NYPD had refused to issue a permit for yesterday’s march. Event organizer Jim Smith told NLN that things changed when City Council Speaker Christine Quinn got involved.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
“Christine Quinn intervened with the police department and we were able to secure a permit for the streets. It’s the first year we’ve hit the streets on Staten Island,” said Smith.
Previously marches were held on the South Beach boardwalk. But this year organizers sought to increase LGBT visibility by marching in the streets. The colorful procession formed up in the St. George municipal parking lot, near the Staten Island Ferry, before beginning its one mile march. The marchers briefly halted traffic on busy Victory Boulevard as the column wound its way to the Cromwell Recreation Center on the Staten Island waterfront.
Despite unseasonably warm temperatures — the mercury rose above 90 degrees — the march was well attended and as festive as ever.
Steve Harrison, Democrat for Congress — and Gay Rights supporter
(Photo: Thomas Good / NLN)
Among those in attendance was Steve Harrison, a Democratic Party candidate for New York’s 13th Congressional District. Harrison, a Gay rights advocate, will square off in a September primary with City Council member Mike McMahon. McMahon opposes Gay marriage.
