Puerto Rican Day Parade

Frankie Cutlass at the Puerto Rican Day Parade 2006

Ricky Martin as the parade's King in 2007

The first Puerto Rican Day Parade was held on Sunday, April 13, 1958, in Manhattan, replacing the former Hispanic Day Parade. This move, part of the mission of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York (esp., Cardinal Spellman and Ivan Illich) represented a shift away from earlier attempts at "Yankeefication" toward culturally specific expressions based on traditional fiestas patronales.[6] In 1995, the parade became incorporated as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade and expanded beyond the parade venue itself. The parade now hosts over seven major events throughout the city.

There are dozens of other events that also take place the weekend of the parade that are not sponsored by the National Parade's corporation. One of the longest running is the street fair held one day prior to the parade. Though the size has changed over the years the heart of the parade has always been at 116th Street between Lexington and Second Avenues. In addition to the parade in New York City, there are currently over fifty smaller parades that take place throughout the United States.

The parade has attracted many New York politicians including mayor Michael Bloomberg, former mayor Rudy Giuliani, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Senator Charles Schumer, as well as many political candidates running for office and looking for voters in local, state and national elections. In recent years, the parade has honored several Puerto Rican celebrities by naming them "International Grand Marshal" of the parade including singer Marc Anthony, who participated in the parade along with his ex-wife Jennifer Lopez, and Ricky Martin in 2007 and 2010.[7]

In 2009, organizers selected internationally recognized telenovela actor Osvaldo Ríos, as the parade's "Special Guest Star".

The parade was cancelled in 2020.

In addition to a National Grand Marshal, a variety of honorees are named for the parade, with titles such as "King", "National Ambassador of La Salsa", and "National Godmother".[8] In June 2004, Puerto Rican rapper Ivy Queen was designated as the "Puerto Rico Youth Godmother" of the parade.[9] Others to be given such titles include Wisin & Yandel and Willie Colón.[7]

Scene from the 2011 parade

The parade itself has been featured in an episode of the NBC television sitcom Seinfeld entitled, "The Puerto Rican Day". In it, Jerry Seinfeld, George Costanza, Elaine Benes, and Cosmo Kramer get stuck in a traffic jam as a result of the parade. Due to controversy relating to a scene in which Kramer accidentally burns and then stomps on a Puerto Rican flag and is chased by a mob of angry Puerto Ricans, NBC refused to air the episode again.[10] The episode was also withheld from syndication as a result, but has been shown sparingly in syndicated repeats since 2002[11] and has been released on DVD along with all of the sitcom's episodes.

The parade was portrayed in a negative aspect following the controversial 2000 parade in a 2001 episode of the long-running NBC crime series Law & Order titled "Sunday in the Park with Jorge". Before the National Puerto Rican Coalition protested the episode, network executives issued an apology. The company also made a pledge to "improve our procedures regarding sensitive programming issues".[12]

The 1994, Latin American literary classic Empire of Dreams by Giannina Braschi staged a revolution on the Puerto Rican Day Parade.[13]

The parade has been referenced on the Tru TV show Impractical Jokers within multiple episodes, satirically introduced as a joke about castmember Sal Vulcano's heritage, which is Cuban, but often mistaken for Mexican or Puerto Rican.

New York Giants players Victor Cruz and Frankie Cutlass march in the 2014 parade

In June 2010, controversy arose after organizers selected telenovela actor Osvaldo Ríos, who served three months in a Puerto Rican prison in 2004 for assaulting his former girlfriend after a domestic-violence incident as the parade's "International Godfather". Many confirmed participants such as U.S. Representative Luis Guiterrez and corporate sponsors such as Verizon withdrew their participation and endorsements due to his controversial past. After mounting pressure from both the media, politicians, public officials, and domestic violence organizations, Rios decided to not attend the parade after discussing the matter with his children and U.S. Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez. He was replaced at the last minute by singer Marc Anthony, who was accompanied by his then wife Jennifer Lopez.[14]

In past interviews, actor and comedian John Leguizamo had always claimed Puerto Rican ancestry via his father's side, which was one of the reasons that he was selected as the 2011 Puerto Rican Day Parade Global Ambassador of the Arts. On June 10, 2011, Leguizamo's father, Albert, declared in an interview published in El Diario La Prensa, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in New York, that he was not Puerto Rican - but rather, of Colombian ancestry. This contradicted his son's past claims of Puerto Rican ancestry.[15] In response to his father's allegations, Leguizamo stated in an interview that his grandfather was of Puerto Rican descent.[16] A spokesman for the National Puerto Rican Day Parade stated that despite his shifting ancestry, Leguizamo would not be stripped of his ambassadorship, and would be allowed to participate in the June 2011 parade.[17]

The theme of the 2015 parade had a strong historical focus. The year 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the death of Pedro Albizu Campos, who spent 25 years in prison and dedicated his life to the independence of Puerto Rico.[18]

Organizers of the 2017 parade chose to honor Oscar López Rivera, considered a terrorist by some[19] and a freedom fighter by others.[20][21] As a result of López Rivera being selected, parade sponsors Goya Foods,[22] JetBlue,[23] Coca-Cola,[23] AT&T,[22] and the New York Yankees[24] dropped their sponsorship. New York City Police Department's Hispanic Society[24] did not march, as well as NYPD's Gay Officer Action League and NYPD Police Commissioner James O'Neill. Some artists, such as Puerto Rican salsa singer Willie Colón criticized the parade organizers as having gone too far,[25] while others, such as six-time Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican salsa singer Gilberto Santa Rosa, chose to participate.[26][23][22] Despite the controversy, the 60th Parade was celebrated on 12 June 2017.[27][28] New York City mayor Bill de Blasio also participated greeting attendees and shaking hands.[29] After public and corporate backlash, Mayor De Blasio had announced that López Rivera would not be honored at the 2017 parade[30] but, in the end, the Puerto Rican activist was honored and kicked off the Parade celebration.[31][32] López Rivera said he wished to keep the focus on Puerto Rico rather than himself.[33]

Following the parade on June 11, 2000, a number of women were harassed, robbed and sexually assaulted by mobs of young men in and about Central Park.[34] The attacks, which were videotaped by onlookers, led to the arrest and prosecution of many of those involved. Manuel Vargas, a Dominican American who was a suspected ringleader, was quoted by the press as saying he "was just having fun."[35] In 2007, the presence of gangs such as the Latin Kings, the Bloods and the Crips have been recorded at the event.[36]

• Nuyorican
• Puerto Ricans in New York City
• Soy boricua

• nprdpinc.org, official website of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, Inc.