NEW YORK.- Under a bright sun and not-so-hot temperatures, several hundred thousand people, mostly Dominican, attended this Sunday the 35th anniversary of the Great Dominican Parade of the Bronx, which began at 1:00 p.m. on the Grand Concourse Avenue, from 181st to 167th Street.
The president of the event, Felipe Febles, recognized Dominican leaders and community members for their contributions to the Dominican community in New York. Speaking from the main stage, located at the height of 176th Street, were Consul Eligio Jáquez, Congressman Adriano Espaillat, Federal Senator Chuck Schumer, and Assemblymen Yudelka Tapia and George Álvarez, from the Bronx.
Mayor Eric Adams, the deputy elected from abroad Cirilo Moronta, the communicator Ramón Tolentino, the community leader Roberto Rojas, the president and county attorney, Vanessa Gibson and Darcel Clark. Also, Guillermo Linares, president of the Corporation of Higher Education Services, and the governor of Moca, Juana Rosario Márquez de Candelier.
There were multiple floats from Dominican and foreign-owned companies, folkloric groups representing regions of the Caribbean country, vehicles equipped with sophisticated music equipment playing merengues and bachatas by different Dominican artists at full volume, and other musical genres.
There were also groups of Diablos Cojuelos and Roba la Gallina, thousands of Dominican flags in the hands of compatriots, who raised them with national pride, an event that displayed the folklore, customs and traditions of the Dominican nation.
The queens were Chantal Batista (adult); Annalis Ángeles Veloz (youth) and Rosmeilyn Ovidio (children).
This year, Mayor Adams and community leader Rojas were Honorary Marshals; Congressman Espaillat and communicator, Frederick Martínez (El Pacha) were Marshals.
The sponsors included Yudelka Tapia and George Álvarez, assemblymen for the Bronx; Fernando Delgado and Daisy Cocco de Filippis, presidents of Lehman and Hostos universities, respectively; Dennis Rodríguez, president of the Dominican Police Association-NY, and the director of Miss RD, Magali Febles.
The central message of those who spoke was to highlight the advances, progress and hard work of Dominican residents, not only in the Bronx, but also throughout the United States.
There were heated arguments at some points during the parade, but these did not escalate to violence; others claimed to have been “pickpocketed” by unknown people. Also, traditional parade-goers said that this year’s attendance was much lower than in previous years.
