Puerto Rican Day Parade
The Puerto Rican Day Parade (also known as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade) is a nationally 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 is always attracys 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 largest parade and the second largest event in New York City. With close to 3 million spectators annually it is one of the largest parades in the country.
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[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].
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 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][unreliable source?] The episode was also withheld from syndication as a result, but has been shown sparingly in syndicated repeats since 2002.
The parade again was 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]
Controversy
Throughout its's history, the parade has not been without controversy as there have been many arrests by police for various crimes and misdemeanors.[6] During recent years, the presence of gangs such as the Latin Kings, Bloods and the Crips have been recorded at the event. [7]. In 2000, there were a number of arrests that were result of a wilding attack where many women in Central Park were assaulted by men after the parade. [1] The attacks, which were videotaped by onlookers,[2] led to the prosecution of many men,with Manuel Vargas being deemed the ring leader. [8]
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
- ^ Workers World - Protests hit NBC/'Seinfeld' racism
- ^ 'Law' producer says NBC caved from the Chicago Tribune, January 30, 2001
- ^ Controversy Grows Over Arrests at Puerto Rican Day Parade from the New York Times dated June 17, 2007
- ^ 208 Arrested at Puerto Rican Day Parade, an Increasefrom the New York Times dated June 12, 2007
- ^ Terror in Central Parkfrom the New York Post dated May 8, 2001