Steamy, soggy weather couldn't stymie yesterday's West Indian American Day parade, which rambled triumphantly along Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn with music, dancing, and SO MANY feathers. The police presence was heavy, with officers deploying their beloved kettling nets to control the flow of revelers and space out the marchers. But the celebration was unstoppable, and as usual the costumes were extraordinary, the dancing was impressive, and the politicians were pandering.
Senator Chuck Schumer was in particularly rare form, telling jokes through a megaphone and playing "name that Caribbean flag" with the crowd. Meanwhile, Anthony Weiner had more cringe-worthy "fun" with accents, Eliot Spitzer perspired profusely, and Bill de Blasio unveiled his favorite dance move, "The Smackdown," which involves licking the palm of your hand and making everyone uncomfortable. To be fair, we'd still rather see him lick his own palm than daggering.
The parade has been associated with violence in the past, and there was at least one violent incident this year. ABC 7 reports that a man was stabbed in the chest at 6:30 p.m. along the parade route near the intersection of Eastern Parkway and Rochester Avenue. (The victim's injuries were non-life threatening.) An hour earlier, two people were shot five blocks from the parade route at Bedford Avenue and Montgomery Street, but it's unclear if the perpetrators had attended the parade. The victims were hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.
