Sinko de Mayo

They cancelled the parade because everyone was "afraid" ICE would show up and create a few hundred residential vacancies in Little Village:

• Chicago’s Cinco de Mayo parade has been cancelled yet again, this time with organizers blaming fear of ICE raids. But the real reasons may run deeper, involving crime, political clashes, and years of instability.

Crime? Instability? What?

• The Cinco de Mayo parade in Chicago was cancelled over fears of potential ICE activity targeting illegal immigrants.
• Organizers cited safety concerns and declining sponsorship as key reasons for calling off the event.
• The event had not been held from 2018 to 2022 due to COVID, gang violence, and internal disputes.
• In 2024, the parade was cancelled by police after gunfire erupted, leading to 25 arrests including weapons charges.
• Organizers say they hope to resume the parade next year, though nothing is guaranteed.

Yeah, okay.

Here's the thing - the parades are a  huge waste of money and resources. Too often, parade fees are waived by connected aldercreatures and police and traffic service is (or was) provided for free, though this may have changed for certain events. We know big banks picked up OT costs and such for the Chicago Marathon, and if it isn't being done so, it should be the model moving forward.

As suggested many times over the years:

• spare the neighborhoods - Grant Park for all parades, ethnic, cultural, alternative lifestyle...every single one;
• staging area is Columbus, Randolph to Monroe;
• parade route is Monroe to 1100 South;
• disbanding area is 1100 to Roosevelt;
• in a pinch, you could even end parades across Roosevelt at the Museum Campus or toward McFetridge (plenty of room for buses)
  

You can store traffic and crowd barricades up and down LSD from Navy Pier to McCormick Place. Parking revenues would be massive with the garages and Soldier Field lots (the Bears won't be using them after 2028). All parades would provide their own security or pay traffic aides or all Police overtime....and there's plenty of event parking for them, too. It's a ready made venue, saves millions while making more millions, and is built to handle the traffic demands of a busy weekend. 

It makes sense....so Conehead won't do it, like every other politician before him.