Announcements

Weekender Recommendations: Nyack Celebrates Spring and PRIDE

Published

June 4, 2021

by Visit Nyack

Nyack‘s third Spring Fling Promenade continues seasonal celebrations on Sunday June 6 from 11a to 8p—this time with Pride Month as the banner headline. Broadway and Main Street will be closed to traffic, making plenty of room for outdoor dining, shopping, and lots of Spring Fling fun with a special Pride flair.

Partnering with the Rockland Pride Center, the festivities include live music, a fashion show on Broadway, pop-up drag performances, a presentation by the Children’s Shakespeare Theatre, hourly raffle drawings, window decoration contest awards, scavenger hunts, local artist exhibitions and sales, an interactive family-friendly street art activity, caricatures of people and pets—and more.

“We’re excited to be back live and in-person for the Pride Promenade in our own home town,” said Brooke Malloy, executive director, Rockland Pride Center. “An antidote to the pandemic, the Promenade brings fun and joy back into our lives”

Photo Credit: Rockland Country Pride Center.our lives.”

“This event, along with many others across Rockland County, will celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month under the banner ‘Community Care is Community Power,'” Malloy continued. “It’s about how we build community power by caring for one another: Meeting critical needs for safe housing, food, access to medical care, and emotional support.”

“Nyack is a safe haven for everyone,” added Nyack Mayor, Don Hammond. “We’re proud to say that our community is a true community—a place where the goal is to welcome, respect and support all people.”

Emblematic of the Pride celebration and a centerpiece for the day’s events, visitors can enjoy a floral installation created by local artist and activist Kris Burns at the Hezekiah Easter Veteran’s Park gazebo. Located at Main and Cedar streets in the center of town, the installation is inspired by the legacy of Constance Spry, an early 20th century pioneer artist, floral designer, lesbian and community health care leader.

“Courage, and a willingness to embrace the new, were dominant themes for Spry,” said Burns. “Although from a very different world dating back over a century, Spry’s life and work carry a contemporary message. In her words: ‘Follow your own star: Be original…learn, learn and learn. Open your mind to every form of beauty’.”

“That’s what Nyack is about,” said Joe Rand, Nyack Village Trustee. “Diversity and open minds give our village its special character, expressed every day in our 100-plus unique shops, restaurants, personal service establishments, and cultural institutions.”

To help visitors navigate and engage in the Promenade fun, a hospitality tent, hosted by event sponsor Montefiore Nyack Hospital, will serve as celebration headquarters located at Cedar and Main streets in the center of town. Visitors can go to the tent to get general information, enter raffles, win raffle prizes and pick up instructions about scavenger hunts and more.

“We’re proud to have Montefiore Nyack Hospital as our lead sponsor, backed by generous support from many local businesses,” said Roger Cohen, President, Nyack Chamber of Commerce.

Pride Center information tables will be set up near Hezekiah Easter Veteran’s Park and at the intersection of Broadway and Main Street.

Parking is free every Sunday throughout Nyack village. As CDC guidelines are changing, we request that visitors adhere to the mask and social distancing protocols that apply to them—both indoors and outdoors—to keep our community safe.

EVENT OVERVIEW
All day — 11a to 8p

Street closures: Broadway from First Avenue to Cedar Hill Avenue, and Main Street from Broadway to Franklin
Nyack’s boutiques, salons, spas and restaurants offer special deals, special meals, one-of-a kind merchandise
Details on specials available on the Visit Nyack website at Spring Fling Specials
Free parking village-wide: Main Street, Artopee Way and Marina municipal parking lots and free on-street parking. RCC Culinary & Hospitality Center lot; enter on Main Street, just east of Broadway
Pride-themed flower installation inspired by the work of Constance Spry at the Hezekiah Easter Veteran’s Park gazebo

SCHEDULE DETAILS

Nyack Montefiore Hospitality Tent
11a to 5a

All the info visitors need to navigate the festivities
Located at Main and Cedar streets in the center of town
Generously hosted by event sponsor Nyack Montefiore Hospital
Receipt Raffle: Every hour from 1:00 pm to 5:00pm. Visitors enter with $20+ receipts from any Nyack business. Grand prize awarded at 5:00 pm. Presented by Alex Francisco and Pride Center drag queens. Attendance not required to win
Window Decorating Contest: Winning business owners and one lucky voter will be awarded prizes
Scavenger Hunt:Pick up clues, collect prizes
Nyack Fan Cardfor discounts at 15 participating businesses, valued at $100+
Souvenir shirts and caps on sale: Iconic, stylish, exclusive design by artist Bill Batson

‘Art in the Garden’ pop-up gallery

11a to 5p

Gallery featuring works by members of the Nyack Art Collective
At noon, Children’s Shakespeare Theatre (CST) performs scenes from As You Like It;
Brady Amoonclark, Artistic Director, discusses CST plans and programs
Located at Hickory Dickory Dock, 43 South Broadway
Click here for details: Art in the Garden at Hickory Dickory Dock

Interactive Family-Friendly Street Art

12p to 5p

South Broadway from Hudson Avenue to Cedar Hill
Guided, interactive, family-friendly chalk art activity
Pride-themed messages in English and Spanish
Hop-scotch and tic tac toe
Sponsored by the Rockland Pride Center
Coordinated by Maria Luisa Whittingham, Maria Luisa boutique
Directed by local artist Eve Fernandez

Pop-up Performances

12p to 6p

LGBTQ+ Heroes Awards Ceremony—12:30p to 1:30p
- Presented to seven local Pride “heroes” by Senator Reichlin-Melnik
- Celebratory remarks by Congressperson Mondaire Jones
- Hezekiah Easter Veterans Park at Main and Cedar
Brass22 Quintet—12:30p to 1:30p
- Performance in the front garden at First Reformed Church (18 S. Broadway)
- Members of the quintet are students at Juilliard in NYC
- Performers: William Leathers and Erik Larson (trumpet), Carlos Jiménez Fernández (trombone), Deandre Desir (tuba) and Ryan Williamson (on horn, and proud son of Nyack).
Fine Art Exhibitions and Sales—1p to 4p
- 12 artists on South Broadway
- Nyack Art Collective in action
- Live caricatures and pet portraits
Jazz and Drag at Maureen’s—1:30p to 8p
- Maureen’s Jazz Cellar on the street
- Broadway and Main
- Guitar/singer John Malino opens
- Legendary David Budway Quartet, featuring Ron Affif, Cameron Brown and Aaron Seeber
- Special guest drag performances by Alex Francisco and Bear Donna
- Drag Queen Speed Bingo at 5:30 — with prizes
- Bear Donna sells Bingo cards to benefit the Pride Center throughout the day
Frankie Dee & the Boys—2p to 5p
- Legendary Frankie Dee & the Boys smoke up Main Street
- Hezekiah Easter Veteran’s Park
- Sponsored by restaurant Casa del Sol
Fashion Show on North Broadway—3p
- Hope Wade Designs and Honor & Blume, The Co-Op, present a pop-up fashion show, live on the street on Broadway just north of Main
- Fun, fashion, flair for all to enjoy

More information about Spring Fling and the Pride celebration is available at VisitNyack.org
Details on Spring Fling shopping and dining specials are here: Spring Fling Specials
Photos and graphics available here: Nyack Spring Fling Photos

About the Pride Center: The Phyllis B. Frank Pride Center of Rockland County is a 501(c)(3) LGBTQ+ community center with an anti-racist, social justice mission. The Pride Center works to improve the lives of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer people, and Black people and people of color through community events, referrals and advocacy, survival services, and professional training.