PRIDE IS THIS SUNDAY
The barriers are already going up in Hudson River Park for Pride, which will be celebrated all over the city all weekend, though in the Village primarily on Sunday. The main event is the annual Pride March starting at noon at 25th and Fifth. But there is also alternative march that is protesting the commercialization of the original pride march, and that one will go on here at Foley Square starting at 1p, eventually marching up to Washington Square Park. More info on that here and a citywide wrap up from Gothamist here.

A SOHO STAPLE CLOSES ITS DOORS AFTER 57 YEARS
News in Tribeca adjacent territory: Amelia’s Place, which has been on Broome and Varick for 57 years, closed in late April. That is quite a run. Thanks to J. for the note.

FIVE RECOGNIZED FOR EXCEPTIONAL SERVICE
The Downtown Alliance presented its Exceptional Service Awards to five people for their efforts to improve the lives of residents, workers and visitors in the neighborhood: Wellington Chen, ED of the Chinatown Partnership; Andrew Damico, a supervisor with the Department of Sanitation; Tribecan Rocco DiSpirito, chef, author and host of their online cooking program Dine Around Downtown; Police Officer Brian Nelsen, one of the community affairs officers from the 1st Precinct; and Anthony Notaro, the former chair of CB1 who died in December 2020. (Pictured: DiSpirito; Anthony Notaro’s wife, Susan Nitahara; Alliance president Jessica Lappin; and Chen.) Read more about each of them here.

CITY HALL GETS NEW LIGHT INSTALLATION
The city has installed a new set of colored lights for City Hall — just in time for Pride, I will note. The LED lights are also cost saving measure — a 90 percent reduction — installed for Earth Week. The new system features six strips of lights, including 180 individual bulbs spanning the balcony of City Hall. Currently, when City Hall is illuminated with colored lights, it requires a manual set-up. The new system will be fully automated. The new lighting system costs $15,000 and will debut to honor Memorial Day.