How can there be a Fleet Week without the fleet?

City officials and United States Navy officers are grappling with that question because of the federal sequestration that led to broad cuts in spending on military and domestic programs. The Department of Defense has put a hold on optional events like the big Fleet Week celebration held each spring in New York City.

Organizers are still looking for ways to salvage the 29-year-old event, which was scheduled to start on May 23. But it seems certain that it will be without some key ingredients: naval ships and the thousands of sailors and Marines who would have filed off them and into the streets of New York.

“No branch of the armed forces may participate in community relations or outreach events that come at additional cost to government or rely on anything other than local assets and personnel, said Rear Adm. John F. Kirby, the chief information officer for the Navy. “We will follow that direction to include participation in Fleet Weeks.”

That directive has already led to the cancellation or scaling back of Fleet Week celebrations in several ports, including San Diego and Fort Lauderdale, Fla.