Gay-O

Harry Belafonte is the last person that comes to mind when I think of gay activism, so he seemed like an odd choice to be the grand marshall of this year's NYC gay pride parade, but on June 30th there he was on the back of an open convertible following a rainbow flag made of balloons down Fifth avenue.  When I was a kid my mom used to love him, so I figured I'd head to the parade staging area and try to snap a shot or two and send them to her for kicks.

Bad idea. 

I don't know if Mario Andretti was driving that convertible or what, but the minute the parade started this motherfucker started driving down Fifth avenue like it was any regular Wednesday and he just happened to be following a half block long balloon rainbow flag through midtown traffic.  I must have taken 40 shots trying to capture Harry, who was either whizzing past me, turning to the other side of the street or being blocked by flags, signs or queens waving like lunatics to get his attention.  The crowd was so thick I had to run down Madison avenue to get ahead of the car and keep trying, which is really pathetic when I think about it.  Fourteen blocks later I got my shot.  And then I passed out from heatstroke and had to be ambulanced to Lenox Hill hospital for an IV.  Just kidding.