Pursuits
Big Apple Circus Folds Its Tent as Wall Street Support Drops Off
- Shows under the Big Top combined laughs and social inclusion
- Clown and juggler visits for sick kids and seniors continue
The Wheel of Wonder performance at the Big Apple Circus in New York, June 1, 2016.
Photographer: Nicole Craine/The New York Times via ReduxThis article is for subscribers only.
The Big Apple Circus, whose clowns, acrobats and animals performed free for disadvantaged children and the elderly, has folded the tent that has been perched behind Manhattan’s Lincoln Center each holiday season since 1981.
The circus, a non-profit organization that gave away tens of thousands of tickets a year, ran out of money as support from Wall Street backers never recovered after losses during the 2008 financial crisis. A last-ditch fundraising drive fell $1.1 million short of the $2 million goal it set last month.