Greater Sayville coverage is funded in part by The Shed, your scratch kitchen for brunch and dinner daily at 21 Main St. in West Sayville.
Sayville is set to host Long Island’s only pride event on wheels.
Pride Ride Long Island — a fill-in of sorts for the popular Long Island Equality March and LGBTQIA Pride Picnic cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic — will roll through downtown on June 20.
“Pride is about being visible, and given our current environment this is a way to still be visible while also keeping everyone safe,” said Ursula Nigro, director of operations at the Transgender Resource Center of Long Island, which is conducting the event.
Hundreds of marchers and picnickers enjoyed last year’s event. A third annual march and pride picnic had been scheduled for June 7.
This year, participants are encourage to decorate their vehicles with their favorite pride colors and drive through Sayville down to the Sayville Ferry.
Mila Madison with the Transgender Resource Center of Long Island noted that the group will take precautions necessary to ensure New York state and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) coronavirus guidelines are adhered to during the event.
“The biggest challenge is that we are not allowed to hold a gathering or a parade for that matter,” they said. “The car ride is something different entirely. People are able to decorate their cars to display their pride while also remaining socially distant.”
Click here to register to ride in the event.
Here’s what else you need to know about the Pride Ride:
• Go naked! Cars are not required to be decorated to be part of the ride.
• Prizes will be given out to the vehicles with the most creative displays of LGBTQIA pride — including gift cards valued at $250, $150 and $100.
• Participants should begin gathering and lining up at 10 a.m. at the corner of Depot Street and Greene Avenue (off Railroad Avenue and across from the Sayville train station overflow lot). The line will take shapes on the east side of Greene Avenue facing north. When arriving, participants should park directly behind the last car in the lineup.
• The event is free for everyone to participate and watch.
• Parade floats are not allowed due to the state’s social distancing mandate.
• The Pride Ride procession starts rolling south on Greene Avenue at 11 a.m.
• Organizers strongly encourage participants to limit the amount of people riding in each vehicle to include only those people you have already been quarantined with.
• The ferry to Cherry Grove is open for those who wish to travel to Fire Island after the event.
“The LGBTQIA community is resilient and no matter what challenges we face we will always find a way to show our pride and honor those who helped us to get to where we are today,” Madison said.
“We need to be visible to make positive change and we also need to be visible for those who can’t be.”
Photos from last year’s march
