Puerto Rican Day Parade
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Puerto Rican Day Parade (also known as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade) is a locally televised parade that takes place yearly on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The parade, which is always held on the second Sunday in June honors the nearly 4 million Puerto Ricans on the island itself, as well as the Puerto Ricans and those of Puerto Rican heritage on the mainland. In 2006 more than 80,000 participants marched and nearly 2 million spectators lined the parade route[1]. The parade always attracts many celebrities, both Puerto Rican and of Puerto Rican heritage, and many politicians from the tri-state area.
The parade marches along Fifth Avenue from 44th Street to 86th Street and has grown to become the third largest parade in New York City after the St. Patrick's Day Parade & the West Indian Day Parade along Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. With close to 3 million spectators annually it is one of the largest parades in the country.
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[edit] History
The first Puerto Rican Day parade was held on Sunday, April 12, 1958 in Manhattan replacing the former Hispanic Day Parade. In 1995, the parade became incorporated as The National Puerto Rican Day Parade and expanded beyond the parade itself. The parade now hosts over seven major events throughout New York City. There are dozens of other events that also take place the weekend of the parade that are not sponsored by the National Parade corporation. In addition to the main New York Parade there are currently over fifty smaller parades that take place throughout the United States.
The parade attracts many New York politicians, such as mayor Michael Bloomberg, former mayor Rudy Giuliani and also many political candidates running for office and looking for voters in local, state and national elections. In recent years, the parade has honored several Puerto Rican celebrities by naming them "International Grand Marshal" of the parade including singer Marc Anthony, who participated in the parade with along his wife Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin in 2007[2]. In addition to a National Grand Marshal, a variety of honorees are named for the parade, with titles such as "King", "National Ambassador of La Salsa", and "National Godmother."[3].
The heat on June 8, 2008 (which was about 96 degrees) did not stop the people of Puerto Rico from attending a day of heritage and pride. As hundreds of people still came as they do every year the streets filled with beautiful colors of red, white and blue. This years celebrities did not include Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez, but who did attend were Frankie Negron, Yolanda Vega, Geraldo Rivera (who also attended last year), Luis Guzman, Frankie J, Fat Joe also Reggaeton sensations Wisin y Yandel, Arcangel & Tito El Bambino. The street of 5th Avenue was filled with music of Reggaeton and Salsa, people singing " Que Bonita Bandera" and chanting the most amazing and proud saying for any Puerto Rican " Yo soy Boricua, Pa que tu lo sepa".
[edit] In Popular Culture
The parade itself has been featured in an episode of Seinfeld titled The Puerto Rican Day. In it, Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer get stuck in a traffic jam as a result of the parade. Because of controversy surrounding a scene in which Kramer accidentally burns and then stomps on a Puerto Rican flag which results in them being chased by angry Puerto Ricans, NBC refused to air the episode again.[4] The episode was also withheld from syndication as a result, but has been shown sparingly in syndicated repeats since 2002.
The parade was once again portrayed in a negative aspect in a 2001 episode of the long-running NBC crime series Law & Order. After the National Puerto Rican coalition protested the episode, network executives issued an apology and also retire that episode from repeat airings on the network or on syndication. The network also made a pledge to "improve our procedures regarding sensitive programming issues." [5]
[edit] Controversy
During recent years, the presence of gangs such as the Latin Kings, the Bloods and the Crips have been recorded at the event. [6]. In 2000, there were a number of arrests that were result of a wilding attack where many women in Central Park were assaulted by African-American and Dominican men after the parade. [7]The attacks, which were videotaped by onlookers, led to the arrest and prosecution of many of those involved. Manuel Vargas, a Dominican American, who was the suspected ringleader was quoted by the press as saying "he was just having fun".[8]
[edit] References
- ^ 2007 National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York
- ^ New York Times - Swaying, and Marching, to a Latin Beat
- ^ National Puerto Rican Day Parade Honorees
- ^ Puerto Rican Day Parade This Sunday from The Gothamist dated June 7, 2007
- ^ 'Law' producer says NBC caved from the Chicago Tribune, January 30, 2001
- ^ 208 Arrested at Puerto Rican Day Parade, an Increasefrom the New York Times dated June 12, 2007
- ^ More women, girls tell of attacks by mob of men in New York from CNN.Com dated June 14, 2000
- ^ Suspect Just "Having Fun" from the New York Post dated June 17, 2000
