New York’s Dominican Day Parade celebrates culture and community

NEW YORK (PIX11) — New Yorkers filled the streets of midtown Manhattan for the 42nd annual Dominican Day Parade .

As far as the eye could see, thousands of people were waving the Dominican flag along Sixth Avenue from 37th to 55th Streets.

Just before the parade’s start, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced millions of dollars in state funds for a new project at CUNY.

“We have to celebrate the culture, the dance, the music, the arts; that’s why I allocated $12.5M today to have the nation’s first-ever cultural center dedicated to the Dominican people,” Hochul said.

More than 700,000 people of Dominican descent live in New York City, and Mayor Eric Adams says they make a vital contribution to the Big Apple.

“When you come out and march in a parade, it just shows how the city leas the globe on diversity. And that’s what my administration is like. We are the first administration to have a Dominican deputy mayor, the first Dominican head of the largest Department of Transportation in the country,” Adams said.

Actress and film director Celines Toribio’s story epitomizes the American dream. She encourages young Dominican people to honor their homeland’s heritage by working hard and never giving up.

“My message is to continue to have God in their hearts, to have their goals very well set, and to put our country at the highest level with our work and discipline,” Toribio said.

The floats, the dancers, the music, the bond of the Dominican people for their homeland, and the place they call home made the parade an experience people will remember for a long time.

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