LOS LEONES DE VILLA MARIA PARTICIPAN EN EL CARNAVAL DEL BOULEVARD.

NOTA DE PRENSA PUBLICADA EN EL MANHATTAN TIMES EN SU ULTIMA EDICION DEL LUNES 26 DE JULIO DEL 2010..

The sights and sounds of Carnaval del Boulevard

by Michael Herson

When Manhattan City Council Member Daniel Garodnick lamented the loss “community flavor” in New York City’s street fairs, he was obviously on the wrong side of the island. Perhaps the East Side district he represents should take a gander at how it is done at the Carnaval del Boulevard.

From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sun., July 18, the 10th annual carnaval, which stretched six blocks on St. Nicholas Avenue, quietly and quickly escalated into a boisterous festival as relentless as the 90-degree heat. By mid-afternoon, many festival-goers hunkered alongside the storefronts to catch the shade of awnings, while also keeping an eye on the stage as Toto the Clown juggled while standing one-footed on a tight rope to Vince Guiraldi’s “Peanuts” theme song.

“Yes, we come every year,” said Hecho the Clown during a brief break from the stage, beginning to sweat off some of his white and red face paint. He is part of a five-person family of performers. The youngest is Tito, who at 8 years old, said he is never nervous when performing in front of an audience.

Walking north from the stage, the street was clogged with a phalanx of families, trucks and lampposts plastered with campaign fliers for Adriano Espaillat, Mark Levine and other ubiquitous faces of election time in Northern Manhattan. The curbs were lined with tented booths ranging from grilled corn on the cob to socks to mops.

“Get your mom! Get your dad! Get your aunt, your uncle, someone with money!” said one hapless salesman into his headset microphone as two young Dominican children looked up at him blankly.

Despite being blocks away from the reggeton blasting from the stage, there was not a square inch of the carnaval that was bereft of music. From W. 181st to W. 187th Streets, vendors clashed sound waves from their respective speakers, walking one moment through meringue, and salsa the next (even some old school hip-hop and funk from the DJ equipment booth).

At the northernmost end of the carnaval, kids and adults lined up to shoot a basketball through the hoop on the side of a New York Knicks truck.

But despite the relatively minor corporate presence during Sunday’s festivities (the glistening set-up of the Verizon Wireless camp, namely) the Carnaval del Boulevard highlighted its signature and seemingly revered performers: los Diablos Cojuelos. Traversing up and down the length of the avenue in intensely vibrant robes and demonic masks, the time-honored trademarks of Dominican festivals paraded jauntily, blowing whistles and clanging cowbells attached to their waists.

“It is traditional, for the twenty-seven Febrero anniversary in Santo Domingo,” said one costumed performer. “Because we were over there, now, we bring it here.”

As he struggled to speak in English, he was repeatedly swarmed by both kids and adults eager have a picture taken with him.

Even more striking was the age discrepancy between the Diablos Cojuelos. Briefly taking off their masks, the performers ranged from young teenagers to those in their 50s and 60s. While many teens would avoid in droves the idea of parading publically in head-turning costumes, all the Diablos were welcomed and sought after, imparting an extraordinary sense of sincerity and friendship.

By 3 p.m. the heat had young couples sidling next to each other under the shade of trees and tents, some licking ice cream cones and sipping on lemonade. Young kids danced through the soaring arc of water from an open fire hydrant.

As the festival came to a close, after hours of dancing, eating and purchasing, a level of sedateness began to blanket the party. The inflatable castle laid in a flattened heap on the asphalt; vendors began to pack up. More sought refuge in the shade. One Diablo pulled his orange mask off and ran his palm through his sweat-soaked hair, only to be walloped on the head with an oversized inflatable hammer by an adoring woman.

“We never really have any problems here,” said Officer Haydee Pabey of the 34th Precinct’s Community Affairs section. In the decade of the Carnaval del Boulevard there has never been a single memorable legal infraction. “One or two lost children, maybe,” said Pabey.

After witnessing the shared affection by those celebrating, it is obvious why.

DE ACUERDO A LA NOTA DE PRENSA Y PUBLICACIONES ON OTROS SITIOS WEB. SOLO LOS DIABLOS COJUELOS SANTO DOMINGO (LOS LEONES DE VILLA MARIA)PARTICIPARON EN EL CARNAVAL DEL BOULEVARD..SI ME EQUIVOCO O SI ALGUIEN TIENE MAS FOTOS QUE ME LAS HAGA LLEGAR PARA PUBLICARLAS (NORMALMENTE A ESTE EVENTO ASISTEN LECHONES Y DIABLOS VEGANOS, PERO NO PUEDO CONFIRMAR ESO POR QUE NO PUDE IR)..