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Photos: 1.5 Million Celebrate NYC's Puerto Rican Day Parade
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 13, 2016
Modified Jun 13, 2016
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 13, 2016
Modified Jun 13, 2016
Share
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A huge crowd turned out for the 59th annual Puerto Rican Day Parade up Fifth Avenue yesterday. According to organizers, there were 100,000 marchers and 1.5 million spectators sharing their Boricua Pride.
Photograph Sai Mokhtari said the attendees were in good spirits, "People were just happy to be there and taking part in the event. Everyone wanted their photos taken. You just had to point to a group of people and they would cheer and wave their flags. This was just as true at 11 a.m as it was at 3 p.m. This parade would be nothing without the energy and hype of the crowd."
Photograph by Sai Mokhtari / Gothamist
And this guy was spinning a basketball while on rollerskates:
Photograph by Sai Mokhtari / Gothamist
Public officials, like Mayor Bill de Blasio, Senator Chuck Schumer, Governor Andrew Cuomo and City Council members, marched, as did community groups, unions and city agencies (NYPD, FDNY, Sanitation) along with dancers, musicians and corporate sponsors. There was also a very big police presence, in the wake of the Orlando mass shooting.
Moktari also noted that her favorite moment was when the "LGBTQ group passed by St Patrick's cathedral with the priest standing outside. They acknowledged each other and lots of people cheered."
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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