Annual Labor Day celebration lights up Eastern Parkway as parade dazzles with music and color—but violence casts a shadow as six are shot, one slashed.
New York City’s West Indian American Day Parade, held each Labor Day along Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway, brings Caribbean culture to life with vibrant costumes, soca and reggae music, and national flags from Trinidad & Tobago, Jamaica, Haiti, Barbados, and more. Organized since the 1930s and public streets since 1947, this iconic carnival continues to draw up to three million participants each year.
This year’s edition was a joyous return to festivities, with hundreds of thousands converging downtown. Mayoral candidates—including Eric Adams, Zohran Mamdani, Andrew Cuomo, and Curtis Sliwa—joined Gov. Kathy Hochul and Rev. Al Sharpton in ceremonial appearances. Despite the buildup of color and rhythm, the celebration turned tragic: in the hours following the Parade, six people were shot in separate incidents across Crown Heights and one man was slashed. Victims included a 53-year-old man critically injured (shot in the neck and leg), a 40-year-old woman shot in the ankle, two men wounded elsewhere—all in stable condition—and a slashing victim who refused treatment. All surviving, authorities made arrests, and investigations remain ongoing.
As this Labor Day carnival dazzled with pageantry and vibrancy, it also revealed how vulnerable even well-secured public celebrations can be. For the Caribbean community, this duality underscores the resilience of cultural traditions—and the urgent need for safety alongside celebration
