New York City’s Pride parade will occur on June 27th, 2021 in the middle of Manhattan. Millions of NYC residents will be in attendance, some marching and others watching from the sidelines and celebrating diversity. The goal of the parade is to promote a future where all people experience equal rights. Many concrete companies will be attending including Queens Concrete, a family-owned concrete service who has volunteered to build a parade float. After speaking with the owner, Mike, they’re not sure what their float design is going to be yet, but they’re doing their best to come up with ideas that support the overarching ideals of inclusion. Mike and his team have asked for community support in coming up with a design that covers their services but also sends the right messaging to the people of New York. For services, Queens Concrete provides cement installation and repair, structure creation, retaining wall design, sidewalk repairs, stampcrete installs, catch basin builds, patio design, and also refinishes staircases. There has to be some way to tie the diversity of concrete services into the diversity of people, but they haven’t quite figured it out yet.
On June 27th, the employees will have a 9:00 AM meeting and quick brunch with the CEO prior to heading to the event. Queens Concrete is also promoting wellness, so they’ll be walking to Manhattan over the bridge. Once there, the floats are ordered, so the team will hop on and wait for the signal from the police that it’s ok to proceed. The floats go from Midtown East down 5th Avenue to West 8th Street, or at least that’s what it was a couple years ago. The walk is only about 20 blocks, which should be manageable. The float is just a wooden structure that goes over a company vehicle. The driver, Sarah, will be putting cruise control on 1 mile per hour and slowly creep forward as the rest of the Queens Concrete company’s employees walk around the vehicle heading south through Manhattan. The march typically ends on Christopher street in lower Chelsea, which is fitting based on the crowd in the parade.
After the event, Queens Concrete has invited all other float volunteers to a large lunch at the Friedman’s Heralds Square. Their company will be purchasing enough pancakes and waffles for everyone, but it’s first come first serve. Hopefully, we’ll see you there!