NY Parade: The Rain Did Not Dampen the Spirit…

By Nick Stamatakis

I asked several oldtimers the same question: Do you remember any other Parade on Fifth Avenue in such rainy conditions?  The only positive answer went back at least four to five decades in the 1970s… Yes, what we experienced today on Fifth Avenue was unprecedented: A relatively decent number of marchers, considering the circumstances and the number of floats, paraded on Fifth Avenue in the rain…  Thankfully, the rain was very light for the first part of the parade, which is also the most important.  And so the Evzones were able to march up Fifth Avenue, their dresses and shoes almost intact…

They stood in front of the Grand Stand as the two national anthems were performed…

In the Grand Stand, we saw former AB Demetrios, and next to AB Elpidophoros was Bishop Athinagoras (Ziliaskopoulos).  Bishop Apostolos was present at the service at the Cathedral but absent – completely absent – from the Parade… Chancellor Nektrarios (Papazafiropoulos) and others from the close circle around the Archbishop were also absent…  Considering the high-profile seating (and treatment) of Bishop Athinagoras, this may have some significance… Did you notice Mike Manatos and Lou Raptakis on the left? The Parade never had a shortage of useless politicians and lobbyists…

Grand Marshall George Logothetis, CEO of Libra Group, arrived a bit late and stood with the Evzones to the performance of the Anthems. His speech magnetized the audience at the Hilton Gala Saturday night… An excellent choice for a Grand Marshall.  And a very promising Hellene, coming from the shipping industry, the true soul of Hellenism.

John Nikolopoulos celebrated Greek Independence most appropriately, for one more year… Dressed like a revolutionary hero! Bravo!!

Our beauties, the winners of the Miss Independence Pageant, parading in umbrellas… What a shame…

Most were parading in ponchos, plastic bags, or holding umbrellas… Except for us, THE CRETANS… A little rain will not affect us at all… We are “Palikaria”!!

The Saint George of Piscataway Parish… With their impressive symbol..

The Johanna Sophia Foundation with their moving story… Link here for more…

Vasilios Christofilakos (right), a professor at FIT specializing in shoe design, and his godson Alex attended the parade… Vassilios, a regular reader of Helleniscope, explained to us that the Evzones’ shoes (τσαρούχια) might suffer irreparable damage if their leather gets very wet… Thank God, the rain was light as the Evzones marched…

NYC Mayor Eric Adams marched for a few minutes and said some kind words…

At some point, US Ambassador to Athens, George Tsunis, also appeared.  Thank God he did not open his mouth a lot this time because it is not his biggest talent. It was not so the night before at the Hilton and a few days ago at the Delphi Forum in Greece, where he said (talking about Greece and Turkey) that “no country has a monopoly on right and wrong here…”  (Link to watch the video of this statement – The Athenian News Agency cut it..) George Tsunis loves Greece passionately, but he is not a politician or a diplomat, and he needs to watch his statements and pick his words carefully… 

Parade Chairman Philip Christopher did an excellent job handling things big and small throughout the parade.  Here, holding an umbrella, he is trying to mediate between the Police and the journalists… We wanted unfettered access into Fifth Avenue to take photos easier…

And the parade closed with the bikers…

PS. Could someone explain why Dimitris Philippides, the Hellas FM commentator and failed president of the Pan-Macedonian Association, had to be an announcer this year? Thank God the Macedonians replaced him recently… And why he had to be “praised” for his (lack of) leadership by Dimitris Filios? When we praise someone who failed miserably, what example do we give? Today Philippides “coincidentally” almost missed the announcement of the marching Panmacedonian Association… Last year the announcers did not say one word about the death of Mikis Theodorakis and Vangelis Papathanasiou… Today they missed Sir Basil Markesinis, a Greek American and the highest-educated Greek, the top authority globally in international law.  We have plenty of talent in the community… Despina Afentouli, Yiannis Stroumbakis, and Avgi Atmatzidou did a fine job as announcers… We have to try new people every year where possible… How will the organization be renewed if the same people do the same things year after year after year? New blood needs to be tested and given responsibilities in all capacities.

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At the Hilton Gala, all was perfect until…

It was a fantastic event Saturday night at the Hilton… It started with the Evzones, who did an excellent presentation of their history and skills, leaving the audience speechless.  AB Elpidophoros had another chance to identify himself with a potent national symbol, as you can see… He tried so hard to “adopt” the Evzones and convince us that he was genuinely a Greek patriot all the way… In the age of PR and pretend, in the era where everything around us is staged, he thought he had a good chance… Not so with the Greek Americans: we have seen enough.  He can take as many photo ops with the Evzones as his heart wishes… For most of us, actions count and not photo ops…

The unique “Kerynia Opera”, with very talented singers and the presence of George Dalaras, brought back so many memories… George Dalaras made a well-deserved tribute to Mikis Theodorakis and sang two of the most popular songs… I met him briefly in the course of the dinner. I told him that at age 13, in the neighborhood where we were both born (Kokkinia, Pireaus) in 1974, right after the fall of the junta, I left the house at 11 pm and walked a few miles to jump a soccer stadium wall and watch Theodorakis, Maria Farantouri, and him in concert…  Oh, how many memories this brought back!…

Then Mike Manatos introduced the night’s Keynote Speaker, George Logothetis, who magnetized the audience by talking about Hellenism.  His reference to his health issues at an early age, how he suffered for so many years, and how they made him stronger was quite moving.  And his emphasis on turning any crisis into an opportunity and especially on taking advantage of our Greek DNA and deep-rooted culture as Hellenes was precisely what the night deserved…

Things turned south when Pfizer CEO Albert Burla picked up the microphone to introduce Ambassador Tsunis… His introduction was a medley of political “wokeness”, from Ukraine fighting for “Freedom” (at the same time as Christians are prosecuted!!), LGBTQ rights and other leftist talking points.  The audience froze, not clapping at all…  Then AmbassadorTsunis started to talk; thank God he spent only a little time on the failed (now we have evidence) Pfizer vaccines and how he plans to honor the Holocaust.  The main applause of the audience came when he started talking about Greece as an energy hub and a geopolitical powerhouse.

Someone needs to explain to the Greek-American elite that the community is very traditionalist in its culture and also financially and socially conservative.  I have repeatedly demonstrated that we Greek Americans voted for Trump at over 80%.  Why do most so-called leaders think they can “lead” this conservative community with leftist principles? It’s beyond me… AB Iakovos, once again, will be remembered for his wise choice to lead this community by conservative principles…

PS. At the beginning of the Gala at Hilton, Philip Christopher playfully asked the Archbishop one more time to pray so the rainy weather forecast would improve… Elpidophoros responded: “I am not a superhero!”  I wouldn’t mention it if he didn’t respond similarly on Thursday at the Federation’s last meeting before the parade. Couldn’t he find a better or more spiritual response, for God’s sake? As they say in my village, “You either have it in you or you don’t”… Elpidophoros doesn’t… No matter how hard he tries, “faith” does not come out…