"Stop in the name of love"...
That's what Diana Ross shouted to the heavens on the night of July 21, 1983 but even the great diva couldn't stop the downpour that put a damper on her free concert in Central Park. The former Supreme lead singer braved 40 minutes of torrential rain, thunder, lightning and gale force winds before calling it quits. Over a quarter of a million fans rushed for the park exits, soaked to the bone, on their hands and knees in the mud...(http://www.dailynews.com/city_life/big_town/v-bigtown_archive/ )
Central Park's Great Lawn registered rain-made lakes as deep as 6 inches by dawn but the weather cleared for the rain-date event and when a beautiful summer evening awaited the return of Diana Ross, no one could predict what would follow...
In the closing minutes of the diva's performance, gangs of unruly youths snatched chains, grabbed pocketbooks and a rampage ensued that spilled from Central Park to as far south as Times Square. Hundreds were beaten and stabbed, hundreds arrested. It was not New York's finest hour. City officials even considered ending all free concerts in the future...
There is an aftermath to this story. Diana Ross, in atonement for the melee, donated a generous monetary gift to the city, taken from her profits on tee-shirt and merchandise sales and in turn the city would use that money for a playground at Central Park West and West 81st Street. It's called "The Diana Ross Playground"...
"And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow". Gilbert K. Chesterton...
More July 21 Memories...
1957) Althea Gibson becomes the first black woman to win a major U.S. tennis title...
1961) Gus Grissom becomes the second American to rocket into a sub-orbital pattern around the Earth...
1969) Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren blast off from the moon...
1970) The Carpenters top the charts with "(They Long to Be) Close To You"...
1975) The Mets Joe Torre hits into 4 double-plays...
1975) #1 song: "The Hustle" by Van McCoy...
1976) 1st outbreak of "Legionnaire's Disease" reported in Philadelphia...
1979) Robert Palmer's "Bad Case Of Loving You" is released...
1983) The skies open up on Diana Ross (feature story)...
1985) Paul Young is #1 with "Everytime You Go Away"...
1987) ET's Mary Hart has Lloyd's of London insure her legs for $2 million...
1990) Pink Floyd's Roger Waters stages a production of "The Wall" where the Berlin Wall once stood...
Happy Birthday to...
1922) 50's singer, Kay Starr...
1924) Don Knotts...
1938) Janet Reno...
1943) Edward Herrmann...
1947) Jon Lovitz...
1948) Cat Stevens aka Yusuf Islam...
1951) Robin Williams...
1968) Soccer star and part-time stripper, Brandi Chastain...
Commentary...
Like many unseemly events that have occurred in New York City, the 1983 rampage in Central Park passed into history with little or no repercussions. I remember how frightening that night was, how the city considered banning all future free concerts in the park, but robbing the people of these historic shows was not the answer. Cooler heads prevailed, the police and parks departments were more vigilant and the concerts continued. As a post-script, there has not been a similar such occurrence since that show...
