Promenerds and Promenazis

Controversy. If you live in Garden City you’re no stranger to it. There’s the perennial fight over St. Paul’s and the way we keep it propped up like the Queen mum. There’s the disdain with which GC residents regard Roosevelt Field and its ersatz “Garden City” address, those dirty tax dodges. There’s the recent rhubarb over the Garden City pool and their questionable choices made in the name of “increasing membership,” even though you need a three-person spec-ops team who is willing to bowl over toddlers just to get a table on the weekend. Then there’s – well, you get the idea. Those of us who keep up with town events know that seldom does a month go by without some new donnybrook gracing the pages of the GC News. Most of the time, though, these controversies don’t affect our daily lives – until now, that is.

Promenade. The word has become a flashpoint, and the dustup is threatening to make a casualty of one of the more positive choices our town has made in recent memory. For those who live on the Moon and haven’t heard about the goings on behind the scenes of this Friday-night galleria, let me fill you in, because it’s a doozy.

Here’s the history as I know it. Years ago, we used to have the Belmont festival on the Friday before The Stakes, and it always seemed to be a hit with the townspeople (that’s you). So, building on that positivity, someone had the great idea to make every Friday night a sort of “boardwalk night,” where people could bring their families to stroll down a closed-off Seventh street, while restaurants and other stores opened their doors for anyone who wanted to eat, drink, and be merry. The organizers threw in live music and hired a few Disney-esque Carney folk to make the experience a bit more kid friendly. It all came together and, suddenly, parents and adults had a place they could go on Friday nights to see their friends, while their kids played and ate safely. They called it “Promenade” and before long, it was a bona fide hit. So much so, that some of us became devoted Promenerds, and attended whenever possible – and why not? There aren’t many places that thirty-and-forty-somethings can hang out without becoming members.

Fast forward a few years to the Summer of 2015. All things pointed to another successful year of Promenade, but, unknown to many, there was a storm a-brewing. It seemed that some of the store owners were unhappy with the event, and began to grumble. In the interest of brevity, we will skip ahead to when it all culminated with an article published in the Garden City news that enumerated some of the ways that the owner of the Sugarplum store was unhappy with the event. The insinuation was that others felt the same. I’m going to quote her directly here because I don’t want to be accused of editorializing,

Have fine wine-tasting, do upscale stuff. It would have to be advertised in a much more upscale environment and it could bring in higher-end people. If you want to attract clients that actually will shop on this block, that is who they are. Don’t bring in people looking for a cheap soda and a hot dog.

Now, no one would ever accuse me of being liberal, but words like “higher-end people” and “people looking for a cheap soda and a hot dog,” I think we can all agree, are her ham-fisted euphemisms for people who don’t live in Garden City. If you aren’t swayed yet, though, try this. John Wilton, chairman of the Chamber of Commerce merchant’s group, presented a petition to a board of trustees meeting that had 351 signatures in favor of promenade, and 69 of the signees were from outside of GC. Wilton said this was proof we were bringing in new shoppers on Fridays. The owner of Sugarplum responded to this by asking, “what are you bringing in?” Need I say more?

Anyone who lives in Garden City has experienced what I call “the cringe.” This is the look people give you when you tell them you are from GC. They immediately get this look on their face like they just ate some bad fish. “Oh,” they say, “you are one of those people.” We’ve all dealt with it, and we all respond the same way, “Oh, no, everyone’s not like that, there’s regular people like us too.” If you need more proof, just look to a recent Newsday article that proclaims Garden City the “Snobbiest place in New York.” Time for a reality check - The rest of the state thinks we are elitists that dine on mustard flown in from the orient and pay indigents to fight each other while we look on in tuxedos and top hats. You can stick your head in the sand but it won’t change this perception. The only way to affect a shift in opinion is to show non-residents that we are approachable and friendly. Well, guess what? As evidenced by the 69 non-Garden City signatures on Mr. Wilton’s petition, whether on purpose or by blind stumbling, we have found a way to do just that. Now, I’m not saying that we have to allow every urine-soaked, stark-raving lunatic with a skull eye patch and a “Guns don’t kill people – I do!” tattoo to meander down seventh street on Friday and snatch children, but for the love of God, let’s not help the rest of the world prove that we are a town full of privileged gentry who are upset that “higher end people” aren’t frequenting our outings enough, and that too many of the “cheap soda and hot dog” set create an atmosphere where “our customers are frightened to walk on Seventh Street once signs go up and the road is blocked… it’s like seeing a circus.”

Now, because I’m not the sort of person who simply complains without offering a solution, I have a few ideas for those who are against the Promenade, or Promenazis as I’ve come to call them. Fore the stores who are upset (and some aren’t even open on Friday night), maybe coming outside and being a good “Promeneighbor,” would be a good idea. If you aren’t getting enough sales then come outside, offer a few samples of your product, and talk to people – shake a few hands, kiss a few babies! I promise you won’t catch anything, and you might just end up making more than you think. I can’t tell you how many times a friendly shopkeeper has made me purchase more than I originally intended, simply by having a welcoming demeanor. As for Sugarplum, why don’t you put out some of the dresses you want to clear out, stop people passing by – yes, even the ones eating hot dogs – and chat them up! You might find out they have an event coming up they need a dress for, and maybe you just happen to have the perfect outfit for the upcoming occasion. Remember, just because someone wants to eat a cheap hot dog doesn’t mean they can’t afford to buy caviar – maybe they just like hot dogs.

To read more of Daniel’s articles and listen to his podcast, visit www.Danielpmalito.com!