By Peter A. Sutters Jr.
Paradegoers lined the barricaded streets to sneak a peak at the multitude of floats and marchers who passed by on the crisp February day while shouting “Happy New Year” in Korean and Chinese dialects. They were celebrating the start of the 4703rd year on the Chinese calendar and 4338th on the Korean calendar, which began Feb. 9.Police said 15,000 people descended on the streets of downtown Flushing for the event. This was the largest turnout of both spectators and performers in the 10-year history of the Queens parade, planner Fred Fu said. This year's parade was led by 30 groups of Korean performers, followed by 50 Taiwanese and Chinese marching troupes. It has become a tradition that the Chinese and Korean performers alternate in terms of who marches first in the Lunar New Year Parade, which once was exclusively Chinese and Taiwanese.Borough President Helen Marshall said at an event later in the day that the Korean and Chinese groups had worked together on the parade because “both wanted their day in the sun.” Other groups were also represented, including the NAACP, a Mexican dancing group and American Korean War Veterans. Bright colors were the order of the day as a kaleidoscopic stream of dragon dancers, martial artists breathing fire, colorful balloons and drummers made their way down toward Main Street from the 109th Precinct on Union Street where the parade began. At the intersection of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue, a stage was set up to offer prime viewing for Queens politicians, including Marshall, state Assemblyman Jimmy Meng (D-Flushing), Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), Councilman Allan Jennings (D-Jamaica), state Assemblyman Mark Weprin (D-Little Neck) and Councilman Tony Avella (D-Bayside), among others. Martial artists flew through the air splitting wooden planks with their feet and hands in dramatic fashion, but one part the demonstration may have gone slightly awry. One participant suffered unknown injuries when a blindfolded martial artist attempted to slice a melon in half and ended up cutting his partner in the face. In a testament to the trust placed in the blindfolded sword bearer, a second melon was sliced while resting on the shoulder and neck of a different martial artist in the same demonstration, this time without incident.Once all of the groups had completed the parade route, they gathered in front of the Flushing Mall for speeches and another round of firecrackers to mark the end of the celebration. Mayor Michael Bloomberg allowed the fireworks after lifting a ban imposed in 1997 by former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.Marshall did her best to wish her Asian constituents a Happy New Year in their native languages and praised the Flushing parade as the best in the city.Reach reporter Peter A. Sutters Jr. by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300 ext. 173.
