By Lincoln Anderson
Flugtag, a high-flying, higher-splashing event sponsored by Red Bull energy drink, touched down on Piers 45 and 46, at Christopher and Charles Sts., in the Hudson River Park last Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
According to Community Affairs Officer Tim Duffy of the Sixth Police Precinct, Red Bull estimated 35,000 people attended the affair. A dozen teams of five persons each took turns launching human-powered flying contraptions off a ramp on Pier 45. The antics are more about fun than flying far, however, and most of the vehicles quickly plunged into the river.
However, there were complaints about noise from the event’s P.A. system and the commandeering of the park’s piers for a commercial event.
Connell McMenamin, 69, said he was hit by the noise as he was exiting from a noon church service at St. Veronica’s on Christopher St., then went down to the street to take a look. “I will never buy a can of Red Bull,” he said. “It was unbelievably loud. Is this what they’re going to use the park for?” McMenamin, who lives at Greenwich and Charles Sts., said he couldn’t read his Sunday newspaper on his roof, as is his custom, because of the noise, and had to go inside and shut the windows. He added: “The thing that annoyed me most was that all those nice flowers and plants that were planted [in the park] were being trampled. It annoyed me that all these young people have no respect for the environment — just to watch some nonsense.” He said the night before he was bothered by music the Red Bull crew was playing while setting up.
Bruce Martin, who lives at Greenwich and Perry Sts., said he called the Sixth Precinct to complain about the noise.
“This is what the park was put there for, to sell it to corporate people to take over?” Martin fumed. “It was closed the night before [the event.] It was closed this morning [Monday]. It was this loud screaming — it went on all day. It was such a blatant sellout of the park and to disturb everyone on Sunday — wow, just too much.”
Martin recalled another private event held in the park a few months ago where there were tents on the piers, but which had been quiet. For the Flugtag flap, Martin pointed the finger at the Hudson River Park Trust and its president, Robert Balachandran.
“I consider him ultimately responsible,” he said. “This was the guy who was on the horse, with the hat, right?” (A photo of Balachandran on horseback and wearing a cowboy hat was on the cover of last week’s Villager.)
Officer Duffy said 23 police officers, not all from the Sixth Precinct, provided safety at pedestrian crossings from Houston to W. 11th Sts. along West St. because of the large crowd. Duffy was at the scene and said he received one call from the desk sergeant at the precinct at 12:30 p.m. saying there had been several complaints about the noise, specifically amplified music. Duffy told the Red Bull people to lower the volume and they did, he said.
“We didn’t get many complaints after that. We didn’t see a need to pull the plug,” he said. The event had a permit and the sound did not exceed the decibel limit, so they didn’t see a need to check it with a sound meter, he said. Though, he added that on the waterfront, it’s hard to gauge how sound will travel.
“It’s hard down there, because of the water,” he said. “You can hear it in one area, but not another. We have that same problem with events at Pier 54 [at W. 13th St.] near the Meat Market. Sounds bounce off large buildings. You hear it in some spots, not in others.”
According to Duffy, the loudspeakers at the Flugtag event, which were placed along the esplanade railing, were not pointed into the Village, but north and south.
There were no incidents apart from the back and neck injuries some participants in the Flugtag events suffered upon smashing into the water, Duffy said.
Community Board 2 was not allowed a chance to review the event. Jim Smith, the board’s chairperson, said, the board would have liked to, but was never notified.
“Anything that can affect someone’s day, of course we should know about it,” he said.
Chris Martin, the Hudson River Park Trust’s spokesperson, said Red Bull paid the Trust $125,000 for use of the park and spent over $1 million in advertising on the major TV networks and Times Sq. Jumbotron, which helped publicize the park and attract people to the park.
Regarding the noise, Martin agreed the perimeter speakers’ volume should have been lower. However, he said that the park probably won’t have an event of this scale in at least three or four years, and possibly never again. As for any other events, Martin said, “In the future, the Trust will be taking measures to make sure noise levels do not interfere with the community.”
Martin emphasized Flugtag’s fun nature, pointing out many families attended. He confirmed that a few flowerbeds were trampled, mainly some thorny flowers that the Trust didn’t plan on anyone standing on, and that these are being fixed up. Other flowerbeds were protected with storm fencing.
As for notifying the community board, Martin said the word was put out through Flugtag’s advertising and flyers in the park, but that in the future the Trust might notify C.B. 2.
“In the future, for an event of this size, that may well be done, just so they know about it,” he said.
