NEW YORK (AP) — Spectators have been dancing and singing behind police barricades to music pounding from loudspeakers aboard floats in New York City’s West Indian Day Parade.
The annual Labor Day parade celebrates Caribbean culture. It’s among the city’s largest and most colorful, featuring dancers wearing enormous feathered costumes.
Spectators waved the flags of their islands as the parade rumbled through Brooklyn on Monday. They enjoyed delicacies including jerk and curry chicken.
Trinidad native Arnold Caballero calls the parade “fabulous!”
Police say the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks plus holiday weekend violence have put the city on high alert.
Violence has occasionally marred the parade, with fatal shootings in 2003 and 2005. Two people were shot and wounded this year. Earlier, a city councilman was arrested after a confrontation with police.
