Karen J. Hernandez Photography

Everyone who knows me well knows that I'm a hug sports fan. My parents loved to watch sports and we spent countless hours watching the Knicks, Rangers, Yankees and Giants through out my childhood. I used to work at MSG and have enjoyed many NYK and NYR regular season and playoff games, I've watched St. Johns win the Big East Championship (against UConn) in 2000, and countless NIT, Big East Tournaments, and other events.  My dad and I would always play hooky for the opening day game for the Yankees, and today I was reminded of that by going to the Giants parade in NYC. We decided last minute to go to the parade so I had a horrible spot to take pics but it was worth it, to share that experience with my dad.  I wouldn't be a Giants fan if it wasn't for him, and I wouldn't have it any other way. When I was sick during my teenager years, every Sunday was a day to escape (even if it was briefly) from my health problems. I would bake before the games and then yell at the T.V for football Sunday with my dad. I no longer bake before the games but we still yell at the T.V during football season.

Congrats Big Blue, I've been a fan since 1988 (my first year watching football).

Some of my pics from the parade below; the first one is of my dad and I :) and After the parade we decided to walk from South Ferry to Chambers Street.

I celebrate the New Year's three times every year, during my birthday (end of Nov), the traditional version of the New Year (Jan 1st) and the Chinese Lunar New Year (varies from January to Feb due to the new moon of the first month according to the lunar calendar). I may add a fourth New Year celebration this year in Sept for Rosh Hashanah as well.

I've always been interested in learning about other cultures because my parents encouraged me to learn about the melting pot that is NYC.  Being that I live in NYC, I went to partake in the Lunar New Year festivities in Chinatown on Sunday January the 29th. It was a clear and cold day but the crowds of people were happy.

One Officer (dubbed Officer Krupke by some of us) was rude to parade watchers as they closed off Mulberry Street for safety reasons.  I understood why he moved the barricades but it wouldn't hurt to not be so grumpy at a parade. This wasn't a protest it was a parade to celebrate the New Year. You can still be friendly while protecting the city, and oh yeah it's probably not a good idea to move a barricade with children and parents with their babies standing or leaning up against them. Avoid the public relations nightmare and use some manners. All the other Officers were nice and friendly.

Despite being barricaded by Officer Krupke onto a side street that limited our view of Mott Street, adults and children enjoyed themselves. Below are some images from my Lunar New Year Parade experience.  Next year I plan on having a press pass to get closer shots of pics.



 

I've been updating my craft site, and have been swamped with midterms (I'm taking 5 classes) and decided to add on to this site with a blog. Static websites are boring to me, stick around I'll be adding a lot more photo's in the upcoming weeks.

 

~Karen