Big Apple Barbeque Block Party. Madison Square Park. Several of the most famous pitmasters in the United States brought their cookers to Madison Square Park, there was Country Western Music and bright skies. The day should have been perfect. But it wasn't. The problem this year, the fourth Big Apple Barbeque Block Party, is that there were too many people and it was just too darn hot. The event is a victim of its own success. And the pitmasters and security and the lines were just not able to handle the crowds. Some food came out piping hot, but too much of it was not, even Ed Mitchell's great pulled pork (the finest delicacy of the whole event) was luke warm. There was good 'que from Alabama and Mississippi and of course the incomparable Salt Lick Barbeque, but the line for the legendary Texas grub was so humongous we couldn't get it. We enjoyed this event tremendously last year, but this time around, it wasn't worth our commute. C+