NYC celebrates Caribbean culture with return of West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn
NEW YORK -- Caribbean pride was on display Monday at the 55th annual West Indian American Day Carnival.
CBS2's Hannah Kliger went to Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn for the festivities.
She was at the end of Eastern Parkway, where she saw tired but happy carnival goers finish the earlier parade's two-mile journey. It was the event's first year back since the pandemic began, so you can imagine how excited people were.
It was a day all about celebrating the Caribbean immigrant community and its contributions to New York City.
"It has been two years since we marched down the parkway with the music pulsating through our bodies," state Attorney General Letitia James said.
There were feathers and sparkles, drums and steelpans, floats, and crowds of dancers. Andre Laveau, the consul general of Trinidad and Tobago, said seeing representation brings him a sense of pride.
"Caribbean people are all about being together and being social and sociable and this is just a celebration of that community that we have," Leveau said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul made a big announcement Monday morning before the festivities, saying she plans to do a surprise visit to the Caribbean in the near future.
"I am, for the first time ever, launching a trade office in that part of the world to make sure that our businesses have opportunities to do business there and vice versa," Hochul said.
Her opponent in the race for governor, Lee Zeldin, told CBS2 along the parade route that this community, like so many others in our city, is concerned about safety.
"There's a lot of first-generation immigrants who are here and they came here with a dream. Their American dream was their New York dream," Zeldin said.
Safety was top of mind for many New Yorkers on Monday, because of violence that had broken out in prior years.
"Last night, when we turned out your police officers, detectives, and supervisors, we explained to them that this is a celebration. This is a festival of pride, of heritage, of tradition and family, and it's really our job here to engage and assist in that celebration," NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell said.
Police did confirm that there was one person stabbed at around 2 p.m. on Eastern Parkway and Nostrand Avenue. That 34-year-old man is in the hospital in stable condition, and police said a 40-year-old was taken into custody.
Otherwise, no other problems were reported.