May 30 2026. Cool day, talk of some significant rain by both the meteorologist and by Mother Nature. Rained a little bit, yet that didn’t put a damper on the joyous day of the ANNUAL YAI CENTRAL PARK CHALLLENGE! This year was the 40th Anniversary of the Central Park Challenge!
What a day it was! Everyone was cheering, free water for everyone, perfect place to walk on a Saturday Central Park. Everything went well!
This reporter was given the honor of working with Dorian Chandler doing interviews with people on their experience at CPC. No negatives! All Positive vibes! One of the questions we asked was, “What is your favorite part of the day?” One person replied, “Just being here, seeing friends, seeing people you haven’t seen in so many years!” Another replied, “It’s the perfect place to mingle, dance, walk and have fun at the same time” Yet another responded, “It’s never boring. The music is great. The Cheerleaders here danced with us and had their pictures taken with us. No other event does that”
When asked “Would you recommend the YAI CENTRAL PARK CHALLENGE to every disabled person everywhere” One proud answer “YES!!!!!!!!,” and then added, “Wheelchairs, people holding hands, face painting, information booths, no place better to see and have fun!” I have to add, “Working with Dorian was so great!”
The Entertainment! The Brass Band arrived: There was clapping and dancing! Once the walk itself began the band started marching. One member of the band remarked, “Seeing people with disabilities marching with us, seeing people clapping, means one thing: we are in the right place with the right people.” They added “We are having such a good time”
Then someone shouted, “CHEER, NY! CHEER!”
People not only cheered, they marched AND cheered! People danced with people, took pictures with people! At one point all the marchers cheered with the cheerleaders, and then the cheerleaders danced and practiced cheers with the people. They put on a happy face with everyone! Cheer NY stated “This is one event we always look forward to” Why? “It’s the people, people happy, cheering, dancing with us, this makes us feel that we’re doing something great, plus we’re having fun!
When a little rain showed up, One Cheer NY said, “Hey, This is the first time we have seen this rain happen. So what?” You see, for Cheer NY, the Brass Band, The People, YAI STAFF, VOLUNTEERS as a HIP HOP/R/B band from Brooklyn NY, many folks proudly said, “It was the place to be! Job well done YAI STAFF!"
There was just one negative spoken. One person said, “The only tough thing is we have to wait one whole year to have this kind of fun again!”