Every year the Yonkers African American Heritage Community hosts a two-day festival and parade in downtown Yonkers, 15 miles up the river from Manhattan. Every year the Yonkers City Council agrees to provide police, parks, and emergency personnel to serve the event, paying exorbitant overtime fees to do so.
But this year the city told festival organizers that they would have to pay the city's costs to secure the event. The result? The committee opted to host a one-day festival at the community center, instead of the parade. They simply could not afford the tens of thousands of dollars they would have had to pay city workers in order to host the two-day, citywide festival.
This is exactly as it should be. If an event isn't worth tens of thousands of dollars to the people participating in it, why should it be considered worth tens of thousands of dollars to the taxpayers who may not even be attending the event? Or worse, who may be inconvenienced by the parade and the noise?
Earlier this summer the Yonkers Puerto Rican/Hispanic Parade & Festival was canceled for the same reason. When nearby White Plains began billing parade organizers for police and cleanup last year, many of their community organizations also turned to hosting single-location festivals instead of the rowdier and messier parades.
Municipalities across the country should follow this example. Traditions are important. They bring communities together and create bonds across generations. But the details of a tradition can be changed to fit the times. No longer should taxpayers be expected to foot the bill for parties and festivals enjoyed by small groups within the larger groups. Festival organizers should raise money the private way: sell advertising, seek private sponsorships, offer vendor booths, and charge fees. The lessons our mothers taught us apply to municipalities and community organizations: if you can't afford it, don't do it.
