Thursday, 14 July 2016
New York Today: Celebrating Bastille Day
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| They sure can-can commemorate. |
Good morning on this thunder-ready Thursday.
It’s Bastille Day.
The holiday commemorates the storming of a French prison in 1789.
Here in New York, we’ve always had strong ties to the French people.
French Huguenots formed the Huguenot Society here in 1658, and were among the earliest settlers of New York.
New Yorkers, still feeling the glow from a revolution of their own, even cheered on the sacking of the Bastille.
A sizable French quarter, stocked with absinthe, pommes frites and — what else — wine, existed south of Washington Square in the late 1800s.
Bastille Day has been celebrated in New York almost every year that France has been a republic, said Nathan Perl-Rosenthal, a professor of history at the University of Southern California.
“Especially by working-class and radical New Yorkers, who wanted to advance egalitarian ideals they saw embodied in revolutionary France,” he said.
Here’s how you can participate today:
Visit the statue of Joan of Arc in Riverside Park or float past Lady Liberty. [Free]
Play pétanque in Bryant Park. [Free]
Eat out during French Restaurant Week (until Sunday). [Prices vary]
A French poetry party is at Community Bookstore in Park Slope at 7 p.m. [Free]
Peruse the collection of French literature at the Albertine bookstore. [Prices vary]
Or catch a screening of “The Triplets of Belleville” with a live orchestra at the Prospect Park Bandshell at 8 p.m. [Free]
Bon 14 juillet!
Cridet Gose To: nytimes
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