BY: Liliana Rocio, Senior Editor for World Liberty TV,   Sunday August 13^th 2023

The annual NYC Dominican Day parade for the Dominican Republic.  The parade was on Sixth Avenue (AKA “Avenue of the Americas”, which no New Yorker calls it, but is appropriate for today).  The parade was from 1pm to 5pm and started at 36th Street and went, I believe, to 62nd Street (that’s right next to Central Park).

I knew it would be big, but I’ve been to big parades:  Puerto Rican Day, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s, among others.

I figured this would be well attended.  It was more than “well attended”.  It seems that everyone who even knows someone in the Dominican Republic was there.  Huge crowds.

I was at Bryant Park, the corner of 42nd Street and 6th Avenue.  There’s an elevated part and I managed to get to the top of the stairs, about 3 feet higher than the crowd in front of me.

Overall, the crowd in front of me was 6 or 7 people deep.  That’s the deepest I’ve seen any parade except Thanksgiving (which is a special case).

Yes, that’s a snake around his neck.  We parted like the Red Sea.  He was one of three guys with snakes around his neck walking through the crowd (you can see another of them right behind him).  After the parade, I saw two more.

Anyway, the parade started at 1pm and the crowd, which was already pretty wound up, cranked the noise level to 11.

The parade featured a number of different participants, but the radio stations seemed to be the all-out favorites.  The crowd wanted loud, loud music; and the politicians really didn’t provide it.

There were a few new sights at this parade.  There were groups of what I can only describe as “colorful characters”.  I’m sure they are symbolic of some folk traditions, but I don’t know what they might be.

Some of them had horns (really long horns) and some had devilish masks, and some just had bullwhips.  Yep, bullwhips.  That’s a new one on me.

At one point, about 20 characters came out cracking their whips and the crowd loved it.  Me, too.  Then there was a small group of others and then a group of kids with bullwhips.  They were really into it, but they just couldn’t crack the whips like their elders.

 The Dominican Day Parade is much more than a parade. Throughout the year, we hold various events including workshops, scholarships, food drives, the annual gala, and parade kick-off events in all five boroughs.

The mission of the Dominican Day Parade of New York City is to celebrate the richness of the Dominican culture, folklore, and popular traditions.

The Parade highlights promote and acknowledge the heritage and contributions of the Dominican community in the United States and throughout the world.

The Dominican Day Parade, Inc. is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit, that organizes the annual parade and festivities that promote the richness of the culture, folklore and popular traditions of the Dominican Republic.

The organization strives to provide an understanding of the heritage and contributions of the Dominican community in the United States of America and throughout the world.

The parade is a tradition beloved by the Dominican community, but it is only the tip of the iceberg for our organization! For us, the Dominican Day Parade is much more than a parade.

Throughout the year, we hold various events including food drives, the annual gala, and parade kick-off events in all five boroughs.

Understanding the value of education, the Dominican Day Parade takes great pride in providing scholarships and mentor opportunities to exceptional students of Dominican descent.

Through the funds raised from our annual gala, we granted $200,000 in scholarships in 2019 to support awardees through college and post graduate institutions.

Helping these promising young people continue to excel in their future ventures allows us to achieve our primary goal: to support and celebrate the Dominican community!

President Luis Abinader , The Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader was in attendance and was recognized as the Grand Marshal. Other Diginatries in attendance and marching in the parade included: Governor Kathy Hochul, Senator Chuck Schumer, New York State Attorney General Letitia James, Mayor Eric Adams, New York City Public Advocate, Jumaane D. Williams, Congress member, Adriano Espaillat, Congressman Jamaal Bowman, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, New York Police Department’s Commissioner, Edward Caban and many more political leaders, labor leaders and community in attendance.

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