On Monday, the Caribbean-sponsored revelers walked up the streets of Brooklyn, waving flags, dancing loudly and dancing on the feet, celebrating New York City’s annual carnival.
Before the main West Indian American Day Parade and the earlier street party J’Ouvert, they joined an important police presence designed to prevent any violent incidents from happening like in the past few years. As of Monday night, the police did not report on the violence on the route.
“This festival means a lot. I am a West Indian, sharing these traditions, sharing our colors, our food and music are very important,” said Deyon Roman, 53, who pulled her hair back to her flag. . Aboriginal Grenada, wearing a handmade crochet top and skirt, shows Grenada’s red, green and yellow. “This parade represents a melting pot in the Caribbean.”
Since the 1920s, the Caribbean community in New York has been hosting carnival celebrations, first in Harlem and then in Brooklyn, and celebrations are held on Labor Day.
The celebration began with J’Ouvert, which comes from the French words “jour” and “ouvert”, meaning dawn. As a celebration of the liberation of slavery, it is characterized by revelers covering their bodies with paint or oil, wearing huge horn helmets and throwing talcum powder into the air. The highlight is the parade of the steel plate band.
J’Ouvert used to be a loose organization, starting in the dark hours a few hours before dawn, in a Brooklyn neighborhood that is still dealing with gang violence.
Late night shootings have been a concern for years, but in 2015, when Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo’s assistant Carey Gabay left Brooklyn’s home to attend the celebration and was shot by strays. After the middle, their anger has intensified. Despite the increased security, two people were killed in the 2016 celebrations. In the past 15 years, the main parade has also been injured by sporadic incidents.
The New York Police Department has developed a series of security measures, including moving the start of the J’Ouvert parade from midnight to 6 am, installing lighthouses and security cameras in place, setting up checkpoints, and increasing police attendance for early morning activities and large parades.
There were no reports of violent incidents in the incident, but at 3:30 pm. Police said a shot outside the five blocks attracted a group of people causing some congestion near the parade route. They said the shooting incident stemmed from disputes unrelated to the march. The injured victim is expected to continue to survive.
In the main parade on Monday, 76-year-old spectator Arnold Cherry said: “We hope that the parade is safe, so it is necessary to let them come here. This should be more free flow and free spirit, but we do not want violence to hinder the march. We can’t use an event as an excuse to suppress it.”
The 72-year-old Trerefon said, “I think it has been alleviated. It has been suppressed. There have been more suppliers and more dances in the past, but now it has been under too much control.”
Elected officials and running for public service came out to participate in the parade. Cuomo announced that the state will invest $15 million to build a community center named after Gabay in Brooklyn.