The people who comprise one of the city’s most famous celebrations say interest is waning and costs are ballooning.
Behind the feathers, jeweled bikinis and stilted walkers of New York’s West Indian American Day Parade, masquerade bands say interest is waning in one of the city’s best known cultural celebrations — and dwindling resources have made competition among the bands more fierce.
Akin to traveling parties, mas band participants pay the bands for lavish costumes, food, drink and to party alongside a semi truck pulling loud music as it makes its way down the parade route. Borneo runs a tight media operation, asking Gothamist to not mention her band alongside others. When told the story would include other mas camps, she asked not to be involved and threatened to have the reporter arrested.Other groups were more open, describing a complex industry that requires nearly a year of planning, design and logistics. Bands profit by selling participants not just costumes, but the entire traveling party.
“A lot of bands basically thought it was more lucrative to go to the Caribbean and to Miami and that's where they are now,” Gulstone said. “Depending on where we're from, we would have family or people that we've networked with as business partners that live in those places.” Trotman, who still leads a band in Miami, said he has to pay $15,000 in deposits to vendors before getting paid from participants.
“Last year I borrowed quite a bit and I'm still paying it,” he said from his basement shop in Flatbush. “I don't know what's going on this year. I got nowhere to borrow from.”
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