City's belt tightening puts squeeze on parades

As the city looks to tighten its budget belt, even parade celebrations are going to have to slim down a bit.

Parade routes across the city will be slashed by 25 percent as the NYPD looks for places to trim costs, chief spokesman Paul Browne said in a release.

Browne said the move was made to ease reductions in the NYPD's budget for planned events. It will save the department about $3.1 million. He said the cuts help the department maintain "essential police services, such as conventional crime suppression, counterterrorism and investigations generally."

NYPD Chief of Department Joseph Esposito sent notifications Monday to parade organizers in all five boroughs, Browne said. Parade organizers were told to contact local precincts to make adjustments.

The change takes effect April 1. Parade routes will not exceed five hours. The changes will not affect the city's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 17.

Reached by phone, Macy's parade spokesman Orland Veras said he has not heard about the changes and the issue did not come up for discussion during a meeting yesterday morning to discuss this year's parade.

Told about the time length, Veras said: "We don't even get close. Our parade is only three hours. It's 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. It's a televised event."