City Hall Circus

When is the 2006 March of elephants? Where is the best place to stand for a good view?

Two years ago, on March 17,1998, I was at the New York City Saint Patrick Day Parade. That day it felt like summer. I was standing by a large group of people, when suddenly I heard loud cheering. That was when I saw Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. I too began screaming his name and when he saw me, he ran over to me. It was wild he shoved his security man out of the way to reach me! At that moment, that single solitary moment, he shook my hand. All the TV reporters took photos of the Mayor and me. I was dressed as an Irish clown, and you could see the smile on Mayor Giuliani's face. There were many other people in this photo, and their eyes showed wonder as the most famous Mayor in the whole world shook Danoe the Clown's hand. I made a lot of friends that day, and I hope to see them next Saint Patrick's Day. I wondered if my picture would be in the newspapers the next day, so that night, when I came back to R.I, I called the New York Mayor's office, and they sent a copy of the parade photo.

I wrote this article at CCRI College, in my English class, and about four years ago, Mayor Giuliani was given a speech at the Job expo at the Convention Center in Providence Rhode Island. I was in line and they handed me the mic, and I explained the story who I got this great picture, of my character of Danoe The Clown, and Mayor Gillian. Rudy looked at me and smiled, and said he "really is a clown". I would have to say fifty people came up to me and shook my hand, cause that day I finally got the picture of me and the mayor Giuliani's, autographed.

FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN THIS YEARS ELEPHANT WALK

WHAT: Elephant walk.

WHEN: 1 p.m. Tuesday and midnight March 22.

WHERE: Tuesday on Paterson Plank Road from railroad station near Route 17 north to Continental Arena, East Rutherford; March 22 from Queens Midtown Tunnel at 34th Street to Madison Square Garden, Manhattan.

HOW MUCH: Free.

When the circus comes to town, the traffic stops - even New York City taxicabs - for 9,000-pound elephants. The two-mile-long train transporting Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's circus does not provide door-to-door service, so for part of the way, the elephants have to hoof it.

"It's the best way to get the animals from the train to the arena," says spokesman Alan Miller.

This elephant walk is a side show - before the big-top show - for all to see.

In New Jersey each year, the animals travel down Paterson Plank Road in East Rutherford in the early afternoon. But because the walk happens during a workday and on a highway, where there's not much room to stand and watch, not as many elephant lovers turn out for the arena trek as they do for the elephants' walk through the Queens Midtown Tunnel into Manhattan.

The elephants' annual arrival in midtown around midnight draws large crowds along 34th Street. The city closes the tunnel and 34th Street as they parade to Madison Square Garden, trunks swinging each humongous step of the way.

"It's a very bizarre late-night event," Miller says. (Last year, the walk provided footage for the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.")

Women in the dorms of Yeshiva University's midtown campus have thrown elephant walk parties in past years, Miller says, and tossed peanuts from their windows.

Elephant trainer Sasha Houcke says the elephants love the peanuts, "but it's not so good for them." Too many calories.

Trainers feed the 10 adult elephants 250 pounds of food - hay, carrots, fruits, vegetables and oats - a day. Originally from Asia, most of the elephants were born in the United States. Two recent additions in the group are 3-year-olds Rudy, a boy, and Asha, a girl.

The entire walk, from train to arena, is 4.5 miles, Houcke says, and takes about an hour.

No elephant has tried to defect (elephants can run up to 25 miles per hour) during the walk since Houcke joined the circus in 2000.

"They don't wander off," he says, because they live in a group and are trained to walk together.

The crowds and New York lights don't bother them, either, Houcke says. They're used to it.

WEEKLY CIRCUS GROCERY LIST:

224 loaves of bread

320 pounds of bananas

335 bales of hay

More than 100 human and animal performers from all over the world have roles in the circus, including:

11 Bengal tigers

10 Asian elephants

six zebras

15 horses, including four Norwegian fiords

12 "sky surfers'' who fly 20 feet above the arena floor

Their travel accommodations and baggage:

a 53-car, 2-mile-long train

500 tons of equipment (overhead big-top truss weighs 40,000 pounds)

Setting up the circus takes:

an average of six hours to unload and 14 hours to set up - with the help of 175 people.

Dismantling the circus takes:

an average of six hours.

Source: Feld Entertainment, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey

- Margaret K. Collins

Does anyone know when the elephants are walking through the midtown tunnel this year, 2005, I would like to see for myself.

Thanks

Two years ago, on March 17,1998, I was at the New York City Saint Patrick Day Parade. That day it felt like summer. I was standing by a large group of people, when suddenly I heard loud cheering. That was when I saw Mayor Giulliani. I too began screaming his name and when he saw me, he ran over to me. It was wild; he shoved his security man out of the way to reach me! At that moment, that single solitary moment, he shook my hand. All the TV reporters took photos of the Mayor and me. I was dressed as an Irish clown, and you could see the smile on Mayor Gulliani's face. There were many other people in this photo, and their eyes showed wonder as the most famous mayor in the whole world shook Danoe the Clown's hand. I made a lot of friends that day, and I hope to see them next Saint Patrick's Day. I wondered if my picture would be in the newspapers the next day, so that night, when I came back to R.I, I called the New York Mayor's office, and they sent a copy of the parade photo.

Go to my web site www.danoetheclown.com go to srap book, and events, to bottom of pitcures, and also in the news AP Photo

Two years ago, on March 17,1998, I was at the New York City Saint Patrick Day Parade. That day it felt like summer. I was standing by a large group of people, when suddenly I heard loud cheering. That was when I saw Mayor Giulliani. I too began screaming his name and when he saw me, he ran over to me. It was wild; he shoved his security man out of the way to reach me! At that moment, that single solitary moment, he shook my hand. All the TV reporters took photos of the Mayor and me. I was dressed as an Irish clown, and you could see the smile on Mayor Gulliani's face. There were many other people in this photo, and their eyes showed wonder as the most famous mayor in the whole world shook Danoe the Clown's hand. I made a lot of friends that day, and I hope to see them next Saint Patrick's Day. I wondered if my picture would be in the newspapers the next day, so that night, when I came back to R.I, I called the New York Mayor's office, and they sent a copy of the parade photo.

Go to my web site www.danoetheclown.com go to srap book, and events, to bottom of pitcures, and also in the news AP Photo

Two years ago, on March 17,1998, I was at the New York City Saint Patrick Day Parade. That day it felt like summer. I was standing by a large group of people, when suddenly I heard loud cheering. That was when I saw Mayor Giulliani. I too began screaming his name and when he saw me, he ran over to me. It was wild; he shoved his security man out of the way to reach me! At that moment, that single solitary moment, he shook my hand. All the TV reporters took photos of the Mayor and me. I was dressed as an Irish clown, and you could see the smile on Mayor Gulliani's face. There were many other people in this photo, and their eyes showed wonder as the most famous mayor in the whole world shook Danoe the Clown's hand. I made a lot of friends that day, and I hope to see them next Saint Patrick's Day. I wondered if my picture would be in the newspapers the next day, so that night, when I came back to R.I, I called the New York Mayor's office, and they sent a copy of the parade photo.

Go to my web site www.danoetheclown.com go to srap book, and events, to bottom of pitcures, and also in the news AP Photo

jack, seriously- you need to stop reading gothamist- it's not good for you.

Jack, your criticism is taken, but if anything has been made abundantly clear, we're not an actual news organizations. We're made up of opinions. If someone has an interesting product or concept that we like, I think it's fair game for us to write about it. I guess as someone with a marketing background, I understand and appreciate other people trying to get the word out for their ideas and products. And Gothamist does get press releases and offers for products from publicists but doesn't write about all of them.

optimus, I agree that Ringling Brothers has a sketchy history of how its animals are treated, but having seen elephants overworked and abused in Thailand at tourist traps, it's not exclusive to Ringling Brothers.

trust me, if it were pandas being treated as abhorently as RB's circus animals, gothamist wouldn't be having that shit.

my favourite part: "our expert handlers watch closely as their animals socialize, then create routines based on natural behavior."

"... no, really, we saw these elephants doing handstands in the wild. f'real." [pulling on collar uncomfortably]

god forbid a website present information from the city's website. why no bitching about the 3-1-1 information? or the terror attack drills? are they really that different?

last time i checked, gothamist is about new york and the things that happen in new york. the circus coming to town is a happening.

I think that things like the Elephant Walk and the circus coming to town are nice things that are a part of the city. As for our inclination to post about things from the city's press center, well, why not, since that's where a lot of NY-related news stories are generated - what the city is doing. I think it's important to know the kinds of things City Hall is focusing on, be they fluffy or not.

Though the clowns did scare me, I like it here.

But I must admit, it does seem that the Gothamist has been dating the Mayor's press secretary.

I didn't get a press release about the circus - I saw it noted on the city website, nyc.gov. I wanted to post about it because the Mayor is wearing a funny hat!

Relax, Jack. Gothamist does a good job keeping New Yorkers up to date about the goings-on in their city. If you want hard-hitting exposes and fight the power mumbo jumbo, go read indymedia.org or join ralph nader's campaign or something. I, for one, am endorsing Gothamist as my choice for a kinder, gentler blog.

Then again Cirque du Soleil fired a dancer for being HIV + for a bit

Who at Gothamist is a flack for Ringling? Here are some other views how animals at Ringling are treated:

USDA Citations of Ringling Brothers for Substandard Animal Care:

http://www.api4animals.org/1547.htm

Ringling Bros. Fact/Fiction:

http://www.circuses.com/ringling.html

Support human tricks--go to Cirque du Soleil instead!

I believe that's when they start walking.

clowns are scary. i keep seeing "canceled" scrawled all over the subway platform ads in big fat marker, presumably by some animal-cruelty-awareness type group. or an anti-clown group.

and i can confrim that the elephant walk made the actual movie.

that sounds like a lot of fun actually. so they come through the tunnel at 11:30? or that's when they start walking?

The elephants make there way in tomorrow night. See the gothamist events section.

Also, there's a scene in Eternal Sunshine where they are watching the elephants come to town. I wonder if the film has been going through the editing that long.