March 20, 2006
Elephant Walk 2006 is Tonight
We've received a flurry of emails about this in the past few days, so we want to confirm that TONIGHT is the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey elephants will enter Manhattan from Queens, to spend a few weeks at Madison Square Garden. And, not to leave the equine sector out, there are horses as well. The walk will begin at the north tube of the Queens Midtown Tunnel (36th Street & 2nd Avenue) and will proceed along 34th Street to Madison Square Garden. The walk starts at 11:55PM, and then the animals are expected at the Midtown Tunnel at about 12:20AM. So, bundle up if you do go.
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Jen, I'm Shocked, Shocked I say!
You make no mention of the PETA Protests...
;-)
I hope one day my Elephant friends will throw off the shackles of their oppressors and stomp on their abusive asses.
Ah, The Elephant Manifesto of Liberty...
back in the ol' fraternity days, we had a different definition of elephant walk.
In the movie, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," there's a dream sequence where Joel and Clementine are watching this very event. I read somewhere that this scene was completely unplanned. Someone on the production crew heard about it earlier in the day and within a few hours, cast and crew were at 34th Street filming it.
I went last year, but it was pretty anticlimactic, I gotta say. We waited in the freezing cold for an hour (they didn't come til around 1ish), then they walked by in about 45 seconds. It sounds so fun in theory...
^How weird is that... I just rented that movie last nite. Being that I'm pretty much against people using elephants in the circus myself, that scene actually put a bit of a damper on the movie for me. But now that you mention it was just a coincidence...
Does anyone know what route they use in Queens to get from the train (?) to the tunnel entrance?
The whole explotation of animals like this is wrong. If they were exploiting pandas my guess is that Gothamist would be up in arms.
Oh boy, vicious animal abuse and tunnels smelling like elephant-sounds like my idea of fun.
If you think that’s fun diabolix, just wait till you watch the fun elephants shit and fart up a storm, leaving behind a disaster in their wake.
I'm so there.
seriously though, why hasnt this exciting "marketing" walk been prohibited? are the kids who give a shit up at this hour? these animals are native to india and africa, yeah, lets march them through new york city concrete corridors in the middle of the freezing night...
When are the Martians going to come and make us walk through tunnels while clutching each other's goodies?
hey mrf: i'm not for sure of course but i figure they'll be getting off the trains in the railyard to the southwest of the queens side tunnel entrance, then proceeding briefly through that hunters point/vernon-jackson industrial area to the tunnel entrance. if correct, the pedestrian path of the pulaski bridge btwn greenpoint and long island city should provide a good view of all of it. but as that's just a guess, and considering the fact that you get closer to the enslaved beasts from the sidewalks of 34th street than from the pulaski, i'm figuring it's probably a better experience on the manhattan side.
please do not attend this event to support ringling bros.! they treat their animals terribly (especially their elephants!) & their abuses are well documented. check out circuses.org for more information!
36th street and 2nd Ave. in Queens? Where the hell is that? In the water north of LaGuardia?
burden, my friend, it's 36th & 2nd in MANHATTAN.
i'm waking my lady up and dragging her to get sushi or coffee (hopefully not both..) and take a few pictures. hope to see you guys there.
have fun, stay warm, and be nice to the elephants.
i'm totally going to be there since i ave a friends apartment in murray hill that i crash at all the time anyways. Does anyone know at what avenue they go to down to 34th to continue their walk after exiting at 36th and 2nd. I don't want to be that guy standing at 34th and 2nd until 3am waiting for elephants that will never come.
Anon, it's also well documented that PETA mistreasts animals and humans. I'll be there for sure!
looks pretty darn humiliating to me. i mean, i am humiliated that adults still actually want to watch that stuff. we're supposed to be more enlightened these days. it's about time that Ringling went the way of the dodos. get your fill from cirque.
even if they didn't beat and torture those poor elephants - even if - i'd still be opposed to using them like that.
blah, man. blah.
I just got back from watching the elephant walk on the Queens side. We waited about an hour and a half, and they finally appeared at 12:30. About 6 elephants, two zebras (with coats on) and about 7 or 8 horses. Although it was freezing and a long wait, I love watching this every year. It's the elephants' chance to show off to the City. And we should all be out there welcoming them. They deserve it.
I watched it from the corner of 50th Ave. and 21st St. in Queens, a desolate corner near the entrance to the Midtown Tunnel. We were able to get within 5 feet of the animals!!! They came off the trains in the Sunnyside Rail Yards, went along Borden Ave. to the entrance ramp to the Midtown Tunnel, swung around the corner I was standing on, and proceeded into the tunnel. If anyone has pics, please post!
Just got back. Saw them on w34 st. I think they were a little late this year.
i saw them at 34th and 3rd ave, a bit later than i wanted as I wasn't feeling too well, but it was interesting to say the least. Unfortunatley they came and went in about 45 seconds
The beauty of watching from the Queens side was the lack of PETA assholes.
does anyone know what time they arrived through the tunnel on the manhattan side?
loxondonta, that case was of a few of their social workers not taking care of their animals. peta does amazing things for animals world-wide. however, you don't need to be a peta supporter to support animals...
When is the march of the elephants going to be this year, cause I really, really don't want to miss it!
Does anyone know when this is happening this year?? My friends from Chicago are trying to fly in for this so I need the date.
has anyone had any luck finding out when the march is this year?
Does anyone know the date? Anyone? Bueller, Bueller...