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Greenpoint Mom Not Lovin' Pumpkin Fest

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Original photo via tinatinatina's flickr
One Greenpoint mom is riled up after coming face to face with evil corporate sponsorship at this past weekend's Pumpkin Fest in McCarren Park. She tells Miss Heather:

"I just got back from Pumpkin Fest and I am appalled. To the point that I bought to my daughter a very cute $2 pumpkin at the green market. People were funneled like cattle to make sure they would give their $5 donation, then would grab a McDonald's bag full of decorations and then a Town Square, Inc. balloon… And is if the corporate co-opting were not bad enough, where was the social aspect? No table to decorate your pumpkin, no real socialization spot to have parents and children interact. Maybe I have no irony or no sense of humor or I am just too moralistic. But I am sure corporations do not need to run every event at every level- even the local Halloween celebration is not free from their influence."

As pointed out, Town Square also had Exxon Mobil sponsor Earth Day in Greenpoint last year. Miss H declares that if this continues, we are looking at a future of "parks for profits and bureaucratic intransigence." With naming rights up for grabs, next year's Pumpkin Fest may be held at McDonald's Park!

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Comments [rss]

  • "...no real socialization spot to have parents and children interact"



    You need a "socialization spot" in order to interact with your kid, lady? Quit your whining!





  • WorksInDUMBO

    Seriously, a "pumpkin patch" is not a right. If she doesn't like the sponsors, then DON'T GO. and quit your bitching.



    There's plenty of this kind of thing going on right now. In Carroll Gardens over the weekend, there was the annual Mazzone Hardware pumpkin patch--local businesses sponsor it, and it always looks like a lovely time (if you think face-painted, screaming children = lovely, that is).

  • GOP

    MOVE TO THE FUCKIN' SUBURBS!!!!

  • aspiringrapper

    Stupid people say & do stupid things. No one forced her to go.

  • longacre

    Town Square Inc. is the Brooklyn-based non-profit that organized the thing, dummy.

  • dirtydrunk

    it's hard to find a sponsor



    but it's really easy to whine



    if you don't like it don't go

  • MrManhattan

    I'm sure this would never happen in Greenwich.

  • Quenepa

    She sounds like those that complain about every ad on Gothamist - money talks - if she doesn't like it fork up the money to run it the way she wants.

  • zodak

    i bet she would complain if they had to raise her taxes for this event, seriously who does she think pays for this stuff?

  • books

    being anti anything just because 'mcdonalds' has something to do with it, is stupid

  • matty

    i wonder who would have sex with this women. maybe she adopted.

  • redhookreject

    Progress, not politics. Mike Bloomberg.



    and by Progress he means the slow sell off of our collective souls for his vanity project aka NEW YORK CITY.



    on NBC4 tonight, they mentioned the vast amount of Mike for Mayor signs at today's parade, and how most where held by out of towners ( non voters)



    and how does the Gothamist have the balls to reports such stories when this entire site is paid for by Bloomberg at present. I get irony, but isn't that an ethics issue? or don't you even care.



    - yesterday night at 8pm I got a call asking me to reject the status quo, and then the guy asked me if I support Mike for Mayor. I then asked the question, isn't Mike the status quo?? he just asked if the mayor could count on my support. I asked him if he could answer my question and he hung up. add the 100 plus mailings, countless tv ads, is there really any voter who doesn't know what Bloomberg is about? we just had near 8 years of him.





    but as we already found out earlier today Jen Carlson is a marshmallow.

    and that's whats really important around here...

  • PTG in nyc

    I'm not saying I love Bloomberg, but isn't it somewhat great that Gothamist can run stories critical of him yet he is still buying up advertising on the site?



    Would you prefer for him to get mad and shut them down because he is the all powerful Hizzoner? Or should he get mad and pull his ad spend, thus making it so idiots like us can't bitch and moan in the comments section because the hard working people behind Gothamist need revenue to run the site and pay their bills?



    Bloomy is likely not getting my vote but it's not because I think he sold out special events at our parks to McDonalds.

  • ides_of_march

    Perhaps you might spare an iota of gratitude for the sponsors such as Bloomberg who keep this site afloat and free for you to use. I mean really, who do you think pays the bills?

  • pal

    this site was aloat before bloomberg ads. but i'm sure bloomberg made gothamist and offer they couldn't refuse. that said, bloomberg is a threat to democracy and gothamist are sell-outs. i like checking out gothamist's posts but i've lost respect for the people who run this site and sold their integrity to bloomberg.

  • upperwestsider

    If I knew that McDonald's was sponsoring such an event, I would not go. Not that I would go anyway, because I don't have any kids.



    Well, none that I know of. ;)

  • CR

    Passed a bodega in Soho this weekend that was charging $10 for a small pumpkin. Thought I'd share.

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