New York City Shortens Pride To Save Money

There will be a quarter less Pride in New York City this summer. The NYPD Tuesday ordered that organizers of all parades in the city -- including the annual Pride parade -- cut their routes by 25% and keep their events under five hours, the Daily News reports.

The new rule, which also requires that the city's famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade shorten its route, is meant to save the city as much as $3.1 million.

The department is making the change to avoid cutting more essential services, according to deputy police commissioner Paul Browne. "We're dealing with a very tight budget. We're not hiring as many police officers. We're down 6,000 cops from 2001," Browne says. "You don't want to cut into crime suppression any more than you have to. "

The Bloomberg administration supports the NYPD decision. "Reducing the length and duration of parades across the board is a sensible way to save money in tough economic times," says deputy mayor Ed Skyler.