West Indian Day Parade

Over a million people headed to Brooklyn yesterday to celebrate the West Indian Day Parade, where glorious costumes, delicious food, and hot beats convened with Wyclef Jean as grand marshal. Newsday reported that Mayor Bloomberg tried to play a steel drum and Police Commissioner Kelly attempted the pan pipe; still, festivals goers had a great time, with one telling Newsday, "I am African-American, but you can call this an everybody day. It doesn't matter if you are Hispanic or Jamaican. This is the parade for the city. It's just fun."

One woman was run over by a float car after falling off a float; she is in serious condition, but onlookers say it didn't seem to be the driver's fault. Still, this being the one of the few serious injuries yesterday, it's nice to know the parade was peaceful and enjoyable.

Staceyjoy Elkin took some beautiful photographs of the parade, including this one at right.