When you come for a late morning walk on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn on Labor Day, one of the first things you will notice is all the food venders scurrying around to get their kiosks ready for a huge day. The scents of searing meats with a wide variety of spices filling the air entice you to buy a plate of delicious food. It’s always a good idea to get a plate early because many places sell out of food while the parade is in full force. The West Indian Day Carnival in Brooklyn is the largest of its kind in the country with plenty of colorful costumes, dazzling feathers, a fashion exhibition, and some of the largest tractor trailers with gigantic speakers geared up for some hot tunes for the crowd to dance to and wave their flags. It is a cultural display like none other in the city when many island nations from the Caribbean unite to become one and celebrate their heritage.
The first hour of the grand parade is when local and state politicians greet the crowd. Community groups and local colleges display cultural pride with fashionable attire, stilted walkers, and some great dancing. A notable group that appears in several parades is the Fit 4 Life group. They always put on a good show for the crowd and encourage others to stay healthy through dance and movement. The Haitian float helped bring awareness to the public about the negative effects over the recent Federal decision to end Temporary Protection Status for Haitians. Brooklyn is home a large population of Haitian immigrants and is directly affected by this action.
The West Indian Day Parade is the only parade with tractor trailer trucks with huge speakers and deejays get the crowd dancing with the latest hot tunes. People march with their favorite trucks, wave their flags and do an occasional wine dance with a friend or a total stranger. The trucks move all along the parade route until it reaches Washinton Ave. and the Brooklyn Museum where a host narrates the presentation of the group to the judges for a vote on the best representation of West Indian culture.
This was the first year a 5:30PM cutoff was imposed by NYPD. Security and safety concerns were given as the reason for the early end. There was an extra police presence this year and one would figure with the extra police there would be better crowd control. It was quite the opposite. In previous years, private security and NYPD would not allow non marchers past Washington Ave. Only the trucks and participating groups would be allowed to pass but not this year. This caused a huge backup when it came time for the stage to be ready for the performers. Even NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams had to chime in to speed things up or other groups would not have the opportunity to present their performance to the judges. And unfortunately, that was the case this year. Some groups with elaborate costumes could only walk by the stage with disappointment weighing them down. Hopefully they will do better next year.
All in all, it was an amazing cultural display with well over a million people lining up the parade route on Eastern Parkway. It truly is one of the better parades in NYC and well worth the experience…again and again.
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