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Photos: J'Ouvert 2019 Creates Joyous 'Theater In The Streets'
By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 2, 2019
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Sep 2, 2019
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Hundreds of people turned out in Brooklyn around dawn today for the annual pre-West Indian American Day parade event, J'Ouvert. You can check out lots of photos of people showing off their Caribbean pride in the gallery above.
Africa was this year's theme: "Some people have a negative spin on J’Ouvert, but… this is really theater in the streets,” Roy Pierre, who creates costumes for people for the event, told CBS.
In recent years, the city has heavily controlled access to the celebration after Gov. Cuomo's former aide, Carey Gabay, was fatally shot nearby the event in 2015. As part of the increased enforcement, the NYPD has been screening attendees at designated checkpoints along Eastern Parkway, and moved the start time hours later than previously in an effort to limit violent incidents. “This is the largest detail that we put out all year, but we are counting on everyone at J’Ouvert to make this event as safe as possible,” NYPD Chief of Dept. Terence Monahan told CBS, who added there were more than 300 light towers and 13 designated checkpoints.
Despite the celebrations officially kicking off at Grand Army Plaza closer to 7 a.m. this year due to the checkpoints, there was plenty of fun to be had in the streets in the wee hours of the morning leading up to it.
"Everyone had to go through a metal detector so it took a while to get in, so this made it less of a mob entering," said photographer Gretchen Robinette. "Everyone was searched for alcohol, but some managed to get some inside the barricades. It seemed like the absence of the normal alcohol quantity resulted in a lot more messy oil, powder, and paint. It still had the same energy as J'Ouvert typically does in Brooklyn—except [there were fewer] floats."
Thankfully, the rain held out until after 10 a.m., so J'Ouvert revelers were mostly dry—people participating in the West Indian Day Parade later in the morning, including Mayor de Blasio, were not so lucky.
Check out a few more videos from the event below, and we'll have more photos from the West Indian Day Parade tomorrow.
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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