New York (AP) – New York Citys West Indian American Day Parade, one of the world’s largest celebrations of Caribbean culture, started on Monday with lively costumes, colorful flags and the sounds of the soca and reggae music.
In addition to the amount of hundreds of thousands of people, the parade has long been a magnet for local politicians, many of whom have inheritance or members of the city’s vast Caribbean community. With a mayoral election in November, the political overlap was particularly clear this year, since competing candidates joked for attention and support.
Mayor Eric Adams, who runs as an independent to re -election this autumn; And the democratic governor Kathy Hochul dismissed a ceremonial band at the beginning of the parade when the civil rights leader The Rev. Al Sharton watched.
Some of Adams’ re -election challengers were there, including the meeting man and the democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, who waved his hips in a established Caribbean dance. Former governor Andrew Cuomo, who runs as an independent mayor for the mayor, flashed a thumb when he made his way along the route. The Republican Mayor of Hoffust Curtis Sliwa waved to the crowd while he was wearing his trademark Red Guardian Angel’s Basque hat.
The parade also recorded security after a fatal shootout at the event of last year.
The police department sent thousands of officials as well as helicopters and drones and used barricades to create a “water ditch” between demonstrators and the many spectators who line the almost 2 miles long (3.2 kilometers) parade route from the Brooklyn, said NYPD commissioner Jessica table.
It is the greatest commitment of the year of the year, said Tisch. Other civil servants who protect the event on New Year’s Eve at Times Square or on July fourth on July Fourth on the East River.
“We will not allow one or two people to spoil the celebrations,” said Adams at a press conference on Friday and found that there were no specific or credible threats to the parade.
The annual event for the Labor Day fills the Eastern Parkway from Crown Heights to the Brooklyn Museum. It is the highlight of days of carnival events in the city, which include the performances Steel Pan Band, and J’ouvert, a separate street party earlier a day that reminds of freedom from slavery.
Last year one person was killed and four others were wounded when shooting along the Parade route. Tisch said on Friday that the police are still looking for the shooter.
