Ringing in the Year of the Rooster with a (Firecracker) Bang [PHOTOS]
Saturday afternoon, Chinatown rang in the year of the Rooster with quite a bang. Literally.
For the eighteenth year running, the Better Chinatown Society hosted the Firecracker Ceremony on Saturday afternoon, attracting hundreds to the Hester Playground inside Sara D. Roosevelt Park. (Falling on the weekend certainly helped turnout.) The event featured traditional song and dance, Tai Chi, dragons, and lions.
However, festivities took on an added dimension given the anti-immigrant political climate by Fuhrer Trump. Alluded to by the gaggle of elected officials (and Ronald McDonald) in the audience. Senator Chuck Schumer was most vocal, having noted that “[We] won’t let the president, or otherwise, say immigrants are not great Americans.” (This was happening as protests at JFK airport over detentions were escalating.)
But the proverbial elephant in the room was ignored thanks to five minutes of awesome, ear-splitting explosives. A chain reaction of fifty some-odd streamers packed with enough firecrackers to wake up the whole neighborhood.
Some more photos:
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