In the “You’re Fired” race, Jonathan Balthaser, left, was second, Ryan Krill, right, was third, and Alex Mermelstein was first, as he had predicted. More Photos >
Some of the competitors were tall, others short; some winners were fleet of foot, others soft of gut. They flocked to Tompkins Square Park on Tuesday during what would have been lunch hour to partake in the largely impromptu, moderately chaotic, and, as it turned out, highly cathartic Unemployment Olympics — which organizers believe is the first, and hope is the last, event of its kind.
Things got under way around 1:30 p.m., after Nick Goddard, who is 26 and lost his job as a computer programmer last month, showed up with a few friends. Mr. Goddard said he had hatched the idea for the Unemployment Olympics because he yearned for the chance to “battle all the unemployed people for stuff.”
“It’s also not a bad time to be unemployed,” said Mr. Goddard, who is from Rochester Hills, Mich., and lives in the East Village. “There is no stigma associated with it now.”
Four events were planned: “Pin the Blame on the Boss,” a “You’re Fired” race, piñata-bashing and the highly anticipated fax machine toss, which had to be nixed at the last minute, to much heartbreak. The parks department balked at the idea of having office equipment hoisted aloft (“dangerous,” said a spokeswoman) and then smashing to the ground (“which is essentially littering,” per the spokeswoman), so Mr. Goddard substituted “Office Phone Skee-Ball,” which also involved hurling office equipment about, albeit equipment of a smaller sort.
Registration was taken at the “Unemployment Office,” which Mr. Goddard and a friend had fashioned late Monday out of cardboard boxes and green paint. An unemployment card or a letter of dismissal from a former employer was required to enter. Some 50 Olympians came from all over the city and beyond, proof of joblessness in hand, including Brad Krzanak, 38, who lost his job as a programmer for an online radio station in November, and Jesse Fallick, 24, who was laid off from the clothing line Steve and Barry’s eight months ago and spent much of the Olympics spreading the word about another summit for the unemployed, Laid-Off Camp.
“I don’t think it’s going to be totally athletic,” said Mr. Fallick, who was wearing flip flops.
“Pin the Blame on the Boss,” which involved blindfolds, took longer than anyone expected. Some people began to wander about, while others stretched their quadriceps. Jing Zhang, a 30-year old soprano who lives in Jersey City, took advantage of the television cameras on hand (at one point, journalists threatened to outnumber the participants) and broke into a full-throated rendition of a Puccini aria, “O mio babbino caro.”
As it happened, she did not enter the games because she is on a student visa from China, and was not sure about the citizenship requirements.
Next up was the “Office Phone Skee-Ball” toss, in which the jobless tossed said phones aloft and willed them to land in numbered chalk circles for the most points. The crowd got worked up and began cheering. Mr. Goddard began doling out cupfuls of Hi-C.
Then, with great glee, the piñata was smashed, unleashing a blizzard that included PayDays, the peanut candy bars. The afternoon culminated in the “You’re Fired” race — a sprint across the playground to see who would get to the cardboard unemployment office first.
The fastest was Alex Mermelstein, 27, of Queens, who lost his job as a video editor in mid-January and predicted, before the games commenced, that he would win the race because, he said, “I’m very fast.”
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