HOP Denied Festival Permit

After nine months of planning and meeting with neighborhood groups, Heritage Of Pride, NYC's gay pride organization, was denied a permit (PDF) by the city to move this year's PRIDEfest event from its traditional West Village location to Chelsea's 8th Avenue between 14th and 23rd Streets. Heritage Of Pride maintains that the West Village location is "not safe, not accessible, and not acceptable." They will be holding an emergency meeting tonight to discuss cancelling PRIDEfest, which is a separate event from the parade itself. The new location was approved by a coalition of over 60 businesses in the 8th Avenue area.

UPDATE: Last night HOP voted to cancel PRIDEfest if they cannot obtain the permit by Friday. They now plan a post-parade protest in the West Village location where they do have permits.