The annual celebration of Caribbean culture and heritage is back in Brooklyn – complete with an early morning bash featuring dancing, elaborate costumes, steel band floats and calypso music.
The early bird tradition – dubbed J’Ouvert, meaning daybreak – began at 6 a.m. Monday along Empire Boulevard and Nostrand Avenue in Flatbush. The parade will start at Empire Boulevard and Flatbush Avenue at Prospect Park and terminate at 11 a.m. at Nostrand Avenue and Rutland Road.
It’s the second biggest parade in New York City this year, NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey said at a news conference regarding parade safety this week.
The parade precedes the West Indian Day Carnival, a continuation of the cultural pride celebration starting at 11 a.m. in Crown Heights along Eastern Parkway between Ralph and Rochester Avenues.
Open street crossings will be located at the following intersections, police said:
- Eastern Parkway & Schenectady Avenue
- Eastern Parkway & Albany Avenue
- Eastern Parkway & Brooklyn Avenue
- Eastern Parkway & Nostrand Avenue
- Eastern Parkway & Rogers Avenue
- Eastern Parkway & Classon Avenue
The festivities will end at 6 p.m. at Grand Army Plaza.
Due to safety concerns and past violence at the festival, participants will be subject to a “strong police presence,” including screening via 300 handheld metal detectors. Other security measures include added drones, security cameras and 260 light towers, police said.
“There will be plenty of safety measures that people will see, and there will be plenty of measures that you will not see,” Maddrey said.
“We accomplish public safety best when we do it together.”
Most notably, Gov. Andrew Cuomo aide Carey Gabay was fatally shot in the head in 2015 after getting caught in gang crossfire in Crown Heights.
The next year, two others were shot dead: 22-year-old Tiarah Poyau, a St. John’s University student, died after being struck in the eye, and 17-year-old Tyreke Borel, was shot in the chest.
At least two people were shot and a third person was slashed in the arm along the West Indian Day Carnival parade route last year, while the J’Ouvert parade remained safe from bloodshed.
“The overall goal is that we are looking to have a safe and festive event and we are going to be out here to ensure that happens,” said NYPD Patrol Borough Brooklyn North Assistant Chief Scott Henderson.
“We looked at everything that happened last year. There were a few incidents where people got into a little bit of violence,” Maddrey said. “We make our adjustments … we try to understand if what happened last year may play a role this year.”
