New Rochelle is looking for someone to save the Fourth of July fireworks display.
It would take $75,000.
The city shoots off its pyrotechnics on July 4 itself, unlike many other communities that hold the celebration shortly before or soon after. And New Rochelle uses Grucci fireworks.
But times are tough, and the money for the celebration was cut from the city’s 2012 budget, along with the $60,000 needed for the Memorial Day and Thanksgiving parades.
So now the city has set up a community events fund to restore the events. Already, donors have pitched in the $30,000 for the Memorial Day parade and almost all of the $30,000 needed for the Thanksgiving event.
But the fate of the fireworks hangs in the balance.
“We are grateful for the support of institutions and individuals who have already come forward, and invite others to join us in the weeks ahead,” Mayor Noam Bramson said in a release.
If you want to donate, checks made out to the “City of New Rochelle Parks and Recreation Gift Catalogue Fund” can be sent to the City of New Rochelle Parks and Recreation Office, 515 North Avenue, New Rochelle, NY. 10801. For more information, call Parks and Recreation Department at (914) 654-2087.
The Memorial Day celebration will begin at 10:30 a.m. May 28 with a brief ceremony at Memorial Plaza at Main Street and Memorial Highway, two blocks southwest of Main Street and North Avenue. The parade will follow immediately following and proceed along Huguenot Street to North Avenue, then to Pelham Road and into Hudson Park. A waterfront ceremony honoring those lost at sea will be held at the park about 1 p.m. The afternoon will continue with a “Picnic in the Park” featuring a food court and music at the band shell in the park, along with military displays, crafts and games for children, and a helicopter landing at 2 p.m. For more information call parade coordinator Peter Parente at (914) 557-5556.
1 Comment
Has this happened in the past? Who is a potential donor? I don’t understand why, after all these years, would events like this be in jeopardy? Residents continue to pay more and more taxes and events like the Memorial Day and Thanksgiving parades, particularly the July 4th fireworks, should never be short on budget. Get the embassies that owe our city millions of dollars in taxes to foot the bill for the few nice services New Rochelleans should be able to still enjoy.