Mardi Gras costumes were sparse but so were the crowds Tuesday as the annual extravaganza of parades and parties arrived earlier than usual because of a quirk in the calendar.<br />
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"I never saw this few people before," Roshawn Gilmore, 27, said. Long rows of empty chairs marked off some spaces on the normally jammed parade route.<br />
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The problem was partly that Fat Tuesday, the Bacchanalian blowout held the day before the start of Lent, is the earliest this year it’s been in 15 years — so far from spring break that it kept much of the college crowd away.<br />
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And while Tuesday was cloudy but mild, with a temperature of around 70, rain had fallen Monday and during the night, turning some spots muddy.<br />
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Read the Full Story at <a href="http://www.newsday.com/travel/ny-etmard0209,0,3224687.story?coll=ny-travel-headlines"><strong>Newsday</strong></a>
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