Dominican Day Parade Dazzles in Midtown before Trouble in Inwood

Hundreds of thousands happy Dominicans and their likewise delighted-to-be-there friends descended on Sixth Avenue on Sunday August 9 to celebrate the 44th annual National Dominican Day Parade in Midtown Manhattan.

Though there was no trouble during the parade, a riot ensued in Inwood several hours after the event, leaving one teen dead and another injured from a stabbing.

As veteran paradegoers know, the parade is among the Big Ones–immense, really—and in prior years, arguably the loudest of all Manhattan parades. The volume of the many sound trucks from Governor Kathy Hochul on back seemed to be turned down a bit this year which was noted and welcomed by many. That made lingering through a long line of march a pleasure in contrast to past years when it was compromised by the ceaseless seismic BOOM!-BOOM!-BOOMING! from certain floats.

Taking moderation in volume too far, however, were the microphone troubles that affected the pre-parade ceremony on the dignitary float parked at West 38th Street. Indeed, the most memorable words that could be heard were Governor Hochul saying “this microphone sucks” though she did say something about having been to the Dominican Republic. Mayor Zohran Mamdani gave up the wonky microphone quickly, while his nemesis, a few bodies away, Congressman Adriano Espaillat—whom Hizzoner betrayed by backing an DSA insurgent who upended Espaillat in the Democratic primary in June—shouted loudly enough in Spanish at least the press, if not the crowd, could hear him clearly. While one couldn’t make it all his words, it was evident on stage and on the march, where Governor Hochul was by his side, that he was pointedly ignoring Mamdani.

Meanwhile, the woman who defeated the seven-term incumbent, DSA party member Darialize Avila Chevalier, wasn’t in attendance at all, nor did she acknowledge the parade on social media, which she was otherwise active on in the days before and after the event. Much has been made of Chevalier and DSA’s success in the very low turnout primary; less so has been mooted about the possibility that bypassing a key constituency—Dominicans— might be successful, as long as the activist base turns up at the polls. Chevalier grew up in Florida but is herself of Dominican and Venezuelan parentage.

Another jilted Dominican, Brooklyn Borough President and former Council Member Antonio Reynoso was in attendance, while the DSA member who steamrolled his quest to succeed retiring Nydia Velázquez in Congress—one term State Assemblymember Claire Valdez—was not present. There is no love lost between Reynoso and Mamdani Some olitical insiders with longstanding ties to the Dominican and other Hispanic communities question if the upsets in the primaries was due mainly to a light turnout. They likened their success to that of Eric Adams four years ago when he was the surprise winner of the Democratic primary who would go on to be elected Mayor. Then it was mooted that liberal Democrats who wanted to succeed were going to have to be more pragmatically Adams-like. Now it’s suggested they have to be more “anti-Zionist” and make Tik-Toks with Zohran. Whether this is true remains to be seen but on the ground, the schism— and deep skepticism— is real.

Other Manhattan politicos on the stage included Council Speaker Julie Menin, City Council Members Christopher Marte and majority leader Shaun Abreu; and Comptroller Mark Levine, who as a Washington Heights resident fluent in Spanish is a de facto an honorary Dominican. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clarke—who was wearing large and glorious Dominican flag earrings—and the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment commissioner Rafael Espinal, a former City Council member from Brooklyn who is himself Dominican, were also present.

As for the ruddy-faced man in white hair and a cleric’s collar, that was Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, one of this year’s officially designated “Honorary Dominicans”; before attaining this honor, Father Sullivan, Emeritus Executive Director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, began his career as a parish priest at St. Elizabeth’s in Washington Heights.

Security for the event was robust. Besides the huge number of cops, the parade route was lined with double barriers—meaning that there was beyond the sidewalk barriers holding back the spectators was another moat-like space beyond which were more barriers. This set-up follows past incidents of route-crashing at this very parade—which Straus News personally witnessed in 2024—as well numerous arrests, including 16 gun-related, following the July 26 Bronx Dominican Parade on the Grand Concourse.

Their work was largely successful. The crowds were huge and joyous at least while the actual parade was underway. Unfortunately, one 19-year-old male was stabbed near Bryant Park at around 2:40 p.m. and two more young men were stabbed, one fatally, after midnight during a brawl in Inwood.

On Thursday Aug. 13, Mayor Mamdani—four days after the parade—issued remarks he made at a Gracie Mansion Dominican Heritage Reception, extolling Dominican New York culture (“Walk through the Heights on any given day, and you can feel that legacy in the air. It starts in the morning with la greca on the stove and mangú in the pan, filling kitchens on 181st Street”) while touting the relevant parts of his Mayoral agenda, namely housing and business.