Sequester Threatens NYC Fleet Week

Thanks to the sequester, it appears that this year's Fleet Week will be a bust for New York City.

How can there be a Fleet Week without the fleet? Organizers are still looking for ways to salvage the 29-year-old event, which was scheduled to start on May 23. But it seems certain that it will be without some key ingredients: naval ships and the thousands of sailors and Marines who would have filed off them and into the streets of New York.  “No branch of the armed forces may participate in community relations or outreach events that come at additional cost to government or rely on anything other than local assets and personnel, said Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, the chief information officer for the Navy. “We will follow that direction to include participation in Fleet Weeks.”

Fleet Weeks in other cities have already been scaled back or canceled entirely. (Tipped by JMG reader Dave)