NYC’s West Indian parade celebrates Caribbean culture with music, merriment and mayoral candidates

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NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s West Indian American Day Parade, one of the world’s largest celebrations of Caribbean culture, kicked off Monday with vibrant costumes, colorful flags and the sounds of soca and reggae music.

Along with crowds of hundreds of thousands of people, the parade has long been a magnet for local politicians, many of whom have West Indian heritage or represent members of the city’s large Caribbean community. With a mayoral election looming in November, the political overlap was particularly evident this year as rival candidates jockeyed for attention and support.

Mayor Eric Adams, who is running for reelection as an independent this fall; and Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul cut a ceremonial ribbon at the start of the parade as the civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton looked on.

Several of Adams’ reelection challengers were also there, including State Assemblyman and Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, who swiveled his hips in a traditional Caribbean dance. Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running for mayor as an independent, flashed a thumbs up as he made his way along the route. Republican mayoral hopeful Curtis Sliwa waved to the crowd while wearing his trademark red Guardian Angels beret.

The parade also saw increased security after a fatal shooting at last year’s event.

The police department sent thousands of officers, plus helicopters and drones and set up barricades to create a “moat” between marchers and the many spectators lining the nearly 2-mile (3.2-kilometer) Brooklyn parade route, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

It is the department’s largest deployment of the year, Tisch said, with more officers assigned to safeguard the event than were deployed to New Year’s Eve in Times Square or the July Fourth fireworks on the East River.

“We are not going to allow one or two individuals to spoil the festivities,” Adams said at a Friday press briefing, noting that there were no specific or credible threats against the parade.

The annual Labor Day event fills Eastern Parkway from Crown Heights to the Brooklyn Museum. It’s the culmination of days of carnival events in the city, which include steel pan band performances and J’Ouvert, a separate street party earlier in the day that commemorates freedom from slavery.

Last year, one person was killed and four others were wounded in the shooting along the parade route. Tisch said Friday that police are still looking for the shooter.