{"id":218923,"date":"2026-09-07T20:47:20","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T20:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/218923\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T20:47:20","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T20:47:20","slug":"mamdani-hochul-march-in-west-indian-day-parade-in-nyc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/218923\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani, Hochul march in West Indian Day Parade in NYC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mayor Zohran Mamdani rolled through on a float while Gov. Kathy Hochul marched in Monday\u2019s notoriously rowdy West Indian Day Parade \u2014 as revelers grumbled that the heightened security <\/a>\u201cdamped\u201d the party vibe.<\/p>\n

The pair of pols \u2014 both wearing \u201cHonorary Grand Marshal\u201d sashes \u2014 received clamorous welcomes as they made their way through Crown Heights, Brooklyn, as part of the 59th annual festival \u2014 hours after four people were stabbed along the route. <\/a><\/p>\n

Mamdani blew kisses to his supporters from his perch on a parade float and popped off at times to shake hands with paradegoers.<\/p>\n

Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani were \u201cHonorary Grand Marshals\u201d for the parade. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know today is the day that our entire\u00a0city looks forward to,\u201d Mamdani said at a pre-parade breakfast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are speaking about a parade that is the celebration not just of freedom, not just of this city but also of the Caribbean diaspora, a diaspora that has given so much to this place that we call home, a diaspora that has the roots of so many New Yorkers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hochul hit the pavement for the parade holding a banner bearing her name.<\/p>\n

She was joined by Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark, former City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and activist Rev. Al Sharpton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know today is the day that our entire city looks forward to,\u201d Mamdani said. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n

The governor vowed to protect the \u201cvibrant\u201d Caribbean communities from what she called \u201cICE\u2019s over-encroachment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was just in Little Caribbean neighborhood a couple of weeks, and that has had a real suppressing effect on the businesses, the churches,\u201d she said of the Trump administration\u2019s anti-illegal-immigration push. <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are afraid to come out, to go to school, and this is New York. We are better than that,\u201d Hochul said.<\/p>\n

The politicians at the parade were separated from the crowds by two rows of metal barriers and a thick patrol of law enforcement, which was beefed up in anticipation of the violence that explodes at the annual celebration.<\/p>\n

But partiers whined that the extra security made it \u201cdifficult for us to enjoy ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

At least four people were stabbed in Crown Heights in the hours before the parade kicked off. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m too far back.\u00a0I used to interact with the people in costumes, I took pictures with them.\u00a0You can\u2019t do that now.\u00a0They are too far away,\u201d said Kissanka Tara, 40, a home-school mom who has been coming to the parade since moving to the US 26 years ago. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m seeing less people, less vendors, less bands, less costumes. It\u2019s not like it used to be,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe rules, too many changes. The cops are too strict,\u201d said Tara, who was carrying Trinidadian and St. Lucian flags.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy honest opinion is it drives people away.\u00a0This is no fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The double layer of barricades, which is new for this year\u2019s parade, was the source of most revelers\u2019 ire.<\/p>\n

At one point, Mamdani had to stretch himself across the barriers and the large gap between them to shake hands with a visitor watching the parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kills the spirit. It\u2019s no fun. It looks like jail,\u201d griped Alex G., 23.<\/p>\n

The barricades were doing little to secure the crowds, with several people jumping over the hurdles to get closer to the parade route. <\/p>\n

The parade route was lined with two rows of barriers. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n

But reveler Marcella Robinson said the strict rules were successfully keeping the worst of the troublemakers at bay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it,\u201d Robinson, 64, said of the parade. \u201cThe vibes, the crowd, everybody dancing and moving to the music \u2014 young and old.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey will still be drinking and playing music even when the parade is over. How can you stop a big party like this?\u201d Robinson said. <\/p>\n

At least four people were stabbed in Crown Heights on Monday morning, just blocks from the pre-dawn J\u2019Ouvert Festival that precedes the parade kick-off.<\/p>\n

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch ordered the parade to end promptly at 5:30 p.m. to curb violence. Stephen Yang for NY Post<\/p>\n

No arrests have been made.<\/p>\n

Last year, six people were shot along the parade route.<\/a><\/p>\n

Tisch warned last week that the 59th annual parade would shut down early in an effort to avoid the violence.<\/p>\n

She would not say how many extra cops she put on the beat but said the number would be increased from last year and would be in the \u201cthousands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of our department\u2019s largest deployments of the year at this time,\u201d Tisch said Friday.<\/p>\n

Eight teams of NYC Crisis Management System staff members and community volunteers were also deployed along the route, along with mobile trauma units.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mayor Zohran Mamdani rolled through on a float while Gov. Kathy Hochul marched in Monday\u2019s notoriously rowdy West…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":218924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[148],"tags":[1418,34278,3913,543,21503,48,97929,553],"class_list":["post-218923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-zohran-mamdani","tag-brooklyn","tag-crown-heights","tag-kathy-hochul","tag-metro","tag-parades","tag-us-news","tag-west-indian-day-parade","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/117231723963743923","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=218923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/218923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/218924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=218923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=218923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=218923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}