It was nice for the most part. But the end was terrible. I was disappointed at the way police swarmed thru the crowd, My daughter was hit in the head by one of those horses. I hope next time they have a better way of getting thru the crowd.
The Carytown event was fine–aside from way too much yammering from the stage that delayed the music, annoyed an already restless crowd, and allowed Black Cash to get through just four songs.
From the front window of the New York Deli I observed three bouts of fisticuffs–one which was started by a rather large woman who started swinging due to some perceived injury to her personal space, a bouncer got a bottle smashed over his head, and a stanchions supporting the rope in front of the Deli were knocked down in a scuffle and one landed rather hard on my foot and another went smashing against the Deli’s window, but neither window nor my foot was hurt.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch slide show interrupts its parade of festive images for three of an ambulance stranded in a sea of people next to Luxor, and distraught persons alongside the gurney getting hauled into the vehicle. I don’t know the story behind this incident; word on the street is that someone fell from a rooftop perch.
What the organizers should have done is arranged a walkway with barriers and posted police to keep people moving; place signs along the courseway stating: WALKING NO STANDING.
One of the reasons the Anti-Enjoyment Brigade of the Richmond police swept in to break up the crowd was because of the activities I cited above. They were doing their job but did so in a brusque, militaristic fashion that almost got small children trampled by horses. Not good.
Only one window was broken that I saw along Cary; that of Ruth Joffre’s shop, a slice in the middle of her western display window exhibiting mirrors. That would’ve been a bad omen had the mirrors gotten busted on New Year’s, but physics were on the side of the just in this case.
So Carytown NYE just needs better organization and a reactionary constabulary won’t be necessary.
I think its great they started this tradition of hoisting the NYE ball off The Byrd Theatre!!! Hope they keep doing this for many years to come!!!
Mike Jones
The random violence at midnight was shocking. The police response was possibly excessive, but who can say? All I know is that 20,000 people were cleared out of the party zone in 15 minutes, and nobody was killed. What a way to start the year!!
I read someone’s comment about how great the clean-up was. I noticed the next evening that Cary St. was pristine, but the streets/sidewalks around Carytown where people live were a mess. Someone paid to have Carytown cleaned, but not anywhere else. I had a huge mess of beer cups, broken beer and champagne bottles, plastic plates and utensils all around my house. The sounds of breaking bottles and yelling and horns went on for a couple of hours after midnight, and I had to get up at 5:30 for work the next day. People parked in front of garages with no regard for the people who lived there. I had been looking forward to this event. I went, but left before midnight…it was getting a bad vibe and getting freaky crowded. The lines to get beer were unbelievably long. We paid for a beer in a restaurant finally. I totally changed my mind about the whole thing. The area is too small and too residential for an event like that. Have it somewhere that has more room to spread out and is less residential, down by the Canal maybe. I find it hard to believe that the area was cleared out in 15 minutes as “Ron” states. Maybe the revelers were off Cary St. itself, but they were swarming the neighborhood around it, drunk, breaking bottles, and spreading their trash. That ruined it for me.
I was there and can tell you this…. Several fights occured near the end of the night. That is why the police had to move through the crowd so forcefully. Otherwise they never could have made it to the persons being assaulted. One man was injured fairly significantly and had to be transported to the hospital. The horses were used to clear a path to the ambulance and for the ambulance to get into and out of the area. I am quite sure the persons being beaten did not want the police to politely take their time coming to their assistance through a mass of intoxicated people.
So much better than the Watermelon Festival!
It was nice for the most part. But the end was terrible. I was disappointed at the way police swarmed thru the crowd, My daughter was hit in the head by one of those horses. I hope next time they have a better way of getting thru the crowd.
The Carytown event was fine–aside from way too much yammering from the stage that delayed the music, annoyed an already restless crowd, and allowed Black Cash to get through just four songs.
From the front window of the New York Deli I observed three bouts of fisticuffs–one which was started by a rather large woman who started swinging due to some perceived injury to her personal space, a bouncer got a bottle smashed over his head, and a stanchions supporting the rope in front of the Deli were knocked down in a scuffle and one landed rather hard on my foot and another went smashing against the Deli’s window, but neither window nor my foot was hurt.
The Richmond Times-Dispatch slide show interrupts its parade of festive images for three of an ambulance stranded in a sea of people next to Luxor, and distraught persons alongside the gurney getting hauled into the vehicle. I don’t know the story behind this incident; word on the street is that someone fell from a rooftop perch.
What the organizers should have done is arranged a walkway with barriers and posted police to keep people moving; place signs along the courseway stating: WALKING NO STANDING.
One of the reasons the Anti-Enjoyment Brigade of the Richmond police swept in to break up the crowd was because of the activities I cited above. They were doing their job but did so in a brusque, militaristic fashion that almost got small children trampled by horses. Not good.
Only one window was broken that I saw along Cary; that of Ruth Joffre’s shop, a slice in the middle of her western display window exhibiting mirrors. That would’ve been a bad omen had the mirrors gotten busted on New Year’s, but physics were on the side of the just in this case.
So Carytown NYE just needs better organization and a reactionary constabulary won’t be necessary.
I think its great they started this tradition of hoisting the NYE ball off The Byrd Theatre!!! Hope they keep doing this for many years to come!!!
Mike Jones
The random violence at midnight was shocking. The police response was possibly excessive, but who can say? All I know is that 20,000 people were cleared out of the party zone in 15 minutes, and nobody was killed. What a way to start the year!!
I read someone’s comment about how great the clean-up was. I noticed the next evening that Cary St. was pristine, but the streets/sidewalks around Carytown where people live were a mess. Someone paid to have Carytown cleaned, but not anywhere else. I had a huge mess of beer cups, broken beer and champagne bottles, plastic plates and utensils all around my house. The sounds of breaking bottles and yelling and horns went on for a couple of hours after midnight, and I had to get up at 5:30 for work the next day. People parked in front of garages with no regard for the people who lived there. I had been looking forward to this event. I went, but left before midnight…it was getting a bad vibe and getting freaky crowded. The lines to get beer were unbelievably long. We paid for a beer in a restaurant finally. I totally changed my mind about the whole thing. The area is too small and too residential for an event like that. Have it somewhere that has more room to spread out and is less residential, down by the Canal maybe. I find it hard to believe that the area was cleared out in 15 minutes as “Ron” states. Maybe the revelers were off Cary St. itself, but they were swarming the neighborhood around it, drunk, breaking bottles, and spreading their trash. That ruined it for me.
I was there and can tell you this…. Several fights occured near the end of the night. That is why the police had to move through the crowd so forcefully. Otherwise they never could have made it to the persons being assaulted. One man was injured fairly significantly and had to be transported to the hospital. The horses were used to clear a path to the ambulance and for the ambulance to get into and out of the area. I am quite sure the persons being beaten did not want the police to politely take their time coming to their assistance through a mass of intoxicated people.