# Do ticker-tape parades = illegal but unenforced littering? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ticker-tape-parades-illegal-but-unenforced-littering/516603 "2009-11-06T17:17:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ticker-tape-parades-illegal-but-unenforced-littering/516603/1 "2009-11-06T17:17:20Z")
In honor of the Yankees’ day plans in downtown Manhattan … [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ticker-tape_parade) answered a lot of my initial questions: What kind of paper are participants actually using? (Mostly shredded office papers, though the city has been known to distribute confetti.) Was the primary ingredient of such parades ever really ticker-tape? (It appears so.) [NYC’s parade permit application](http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/downloads/pdf/permits/online_application_for_parade_permit.pdf) is silent on the notion of ticker-tape being used. The city’s [littering code](http://law.onecle.com/new-york/new-york-city-administrative-code/ADC016-118_16-118.html) would seem to preclude chucking shredded paper out your office window in downtown Manhattan. Clearly the city is OK with it – as mentioned, in the past they’ve distributed the confetti to throw. But would the practice technically be littering that the city just looks the other way on? I imagine it costs more than a little to clean up after such a parade. But Mayor Michael Bloomberg was discussing yesterday how the exposure of such an event showing NYC as safe and fun outweighs any costs. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ticker-tape-parades-illegal-but-unenforced-littering/516603/2 "2009-11-06T17:51:08Z")
They used to be tickertape – back in the days when it was used in the financial district. Brokerages would have tons of the stuff, which they could save up for a few days and toss out when the parade went by. This was back before air conditioned buildings and electronic quote systems, of course. The parades started as just parades, but when they went through the financial district, the tickertape was thrown (along with other papers). The term caught on. NYC considers it part of its heritage, so does nothing to discourage it. Any anti-littering laws are unenforced and I’ve even seen them talk about the amount of paper that needed to be cleaned up – various parades had various amounts, with the idea that the more paper, the more enthusiastic the crowd. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2009, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ticker-tape-parades-illegal-but-unenforced-littering/516603/3 "2009-11-06T21:01:07Z")
Most public events are organized by some committee or group who also take responsibility for cleaning up afterward. I’m a member of a Seattle-area festival and there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes that the public never sees. Months before the event, we’re clearing dates and activities with the local police and fire departments, with changes sometimes coming just weeks before the event. Our volunteers start setting up and marking spaces at 3 am - 6 hours before the two-day event starts. It officially ends at 6 pm the next day, so another crew of volunteers comes through to pick up litter from around 9 pm to midnight. About the only thing we don’t clean up are chalk markings on the street that wash away in the next rain. (And don’t think the local merchants haven’t complained about how long it takes the next rain to come, even in the Seattle area). ---
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ticker-tape-parades-illegal-but-unenforced-littering/516603/4 "2009-11-08T03:47:24Z")
In New York, ticker tape parades require a permit, and if another organization is throwing them, a deposit and a plan to do a clean up. I was at one ticker tape parade when John Glen returned after being the oldest person in space. The city threw it (which meant it cleaned up the mess). The attendance was rather light, and the whole thing seemed to take on an air of a third world _spontaneous demonstration for our glorious president_ type of parade. I think there were some people throwing clumps of shredded paper from the roofs of a few buildings centering on 160 Broadway. The whole thing was over in a few minutes, the little crowd there was dispersed, and the clean up began. With in an hour, the whole thing was over with. I never bothered attending another one. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2009, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-ticker-tape-parades-illegal-but-unenforced-littering/516603/5 "2009-11-11T01:13:08Z")
I was down there for the Yankees parade (even though I can’t stand them) and about 95% of the confetti was shredded office paper. Some people had tossed 8.5x11 sheets of paper and there were quite a few rolls of toilet paper which must be a real kick to toss.