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The Puerto Rican Day Parade (also known as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade) takes place yearly across the United States. The most famous of the parades occurs in New York City, United States. The parade, normally held on a Sunday in June, honors the Puerto Rican-American community. In 2006 over 80,000 people marched and more than 2 million lined the parade route. The parade is always attended by many Puerto Rican celebrities and major New York politicans.
The parade marches along Fifth Avenue from 44th Street to 86th Street, the normal route for many New York City parades.
History
The first Puerto Rican Day parade was held on Sunday, April 12, 1958 in Manhattan. Starting in 1995, the focus was expanded beyond Manhattan, and there are currently over 50 individual parades that take place across the United States.
The parade attracts many New York politicians, including mayor Michael Bloomberg. In recent years, the parade has honored several Puerto Rican celebrities by naming them "International Grand Marshal" of the parade; this has been awarded to Celia Cruz, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.
Incidents
In 2000, the parades were marred by numerous incidents of sexual assault and violence. Roughly 50 women reported being doused with water, stripped and groped by roving packs of drunken men in New York's Central Park. Using an amateur handheld video of one such event, police arrested 18 men, who all eventually pled guilty or were convicted. Several of the victims sued the city itself, claiming that the police force did not do enough to crack down on public drunkenness during the parade, and even alleged that police officers saw the roving packs and did nothing about them. An official police inquiry later found that two officers on duty had disregarded complaining victims, and five superior officers had failed to properly deploy their officers.
In recent years, possibly in reaction to the violent actions witnessed in past parades, many residents and shopkeepers in Manhattan's Upper East Side have taken to erecting temporary fences around their property and boarding up their windows. Several prominent members of the Latin American community, as well as Mayor Bloomberg himself have denounced this practice as racist, although many residence owners maintain that it is simply because of the volume of traffic generated by the parade.
In 2005, over 120 members of the Latin Kings gang were arrested with weapons at the parade. While breaking up a brawl about a block away from the end of the parade route, a police officer on duty was stabbed, but not fatally.
The Puerto Rican Day parade in pop culture
- The Seinfeld episode The Puerto Rican Day Parade depicted the regular cast's routine interrupted by the traffic disruptions related to the parade. However due to the fact that during the show Kramer accidentally burns a Puerto Rican flag, and several Puerto Ricans are depicted with negative stereotypes, the episode has been banned from syndication.
- The Law & Order episode "Sunday in the Park with Jorge" was inspired by the violent assaults that occurred during the 2000 Puerto Rican Day parade in the park. Since the initial episode's airing, NBC has stated that it will not repeat the episode in syndication.
References
- Another man arrested in connection with Central Park attacks from CNN on June 18, 2000.
- Wolf Howls As NBC Yanks "Law & Order" Episode accessed from E! Online on January 26, 2001.
- Plywood Up, Fifth Avenue Awaits a Parade from New York Times on June 8, 2003.
- Parade marred by knifing, 175 busts from New York Daily News on June 13, 2005.
- Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony Add Hollywood Glamor to New York City's Puerto Rican Day Parade from ABC News on June 11, 2006