If it’s true that one of the world’s largest celebrations of Earth Day took place in Times Square last Thursday, as the Times Square Alliance claims, there couldn’t have been very much doing elsewhere in the world.
The organizer, Earth Day New York, had high hopes, but it seems that partnering with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the city of New York didn’t help to draw the people out. The crowd barely made it into the three digits for Bloomberg’s little speech, essentially a laundry list of his efforts to make New York a greener city.
The event actually consisted of two sections: the pedestrian plaza between 42nd and 43rd streets was lined with information booths, and the plaza between 45th and 46th streets held a little stage where a variety of performers and speakers did their thing.
Among the booths was The New York Times, with its claim to “green”-ness being that its newspapers are 75 percent recyclable.
By far the most popular station was the Burt’s Bees smoothie stand, partially because they were giving out the best free handouts, including natural toothpaste and beeswax lip balm. They made their bicycle-powered (by a volunteer) all-natural smoothies on the spot, making clear that the cups would be composted later. One taster gave an unsolicited, surprised compliment: “Wow, it’s good.”
A volunteer provides pedal power to blend Burt's Bees smoothies.
The other booths had a hard time attracting attention and many sat unnoticed much of the time.
The only other attraction was an older man, James Cellar, who would tell anyone who listened that he was “one of the founders” of Earth Day, back in the 1970s. He said that he tells kids, “We don’t need cars. Have a walk. It eliminates body pollution.”
Two blocks away, where the stage was set up, there was slightly more action. The reggae band, Wailers, had the audience rocking, with music that throbbed in your chest.
But the crowd dispersed after that, and so did the enthusiasm. A Mayan woman spoke on behalf of indigenous people worldwide; her call to the crowd, “How are you, New York?,” went almost entirely unanswered.
There was a slight uptick in energy level when the Blue Man Group came on the scene. They performed a short, weird act that was attention-grabbing, if nothing else.
"Backstage": The Blue Man group and Councilman Jim Gennaro
Above Times Square, flashing ads with Earth Day-themed messages mingled with ordinary ones. A Coca-Cola ad encouraged recycling while another ad read, “I will stop using styrofoam cups.”
Around the area, it was business as usual. One suited man passing by asked his friend, “Is there a reason they’re doing this today?” To which his friend replied, “It’s Al Gore’s birthday.”