New York.- President Luis Abinader was greeted by the large crowd that gathered on Sixth Avenue and 36th Street to kick off the Manhattan Dominican Parade.
Following the singing of the national anthems of the United States and the Dominican Republic, the president, along with the senior United States Senator from New York, Chuck Schumer, cut the ribbon to mark the formal start of the parade.
This is the first time that a head of state of the Dominican Republic has led this parade in New York. This event brings together almost half a million people and is the most prominent manifestation of Dominican culture in the streets of this city.
President Abinader began the walk accompanied by the first lady, Raquel Arbaje; the president of the Senate, Eduardo Estrella; the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Alfredo Pacheco; the Dominican consul in New York, Eligio Jáquez; the administrative minister of the Presidency, José Ignacio Paliza; Congressman Adriano Espaillat; the ambassador of the Dominican Republic in the city of Washington, Sonia Guzmán, and the vice minister for Dominican Communities Abroad, Carlos de la Mota.
During his tour, the Dominican ruler made brief stops to greet and talk with the Dominican community present.
President Abinader expressed being very proud to see so many Dominicans on Avenida de las Américas in realizing this parade.
“We are very proud to see this avenue of the Americas full of Dominicans with a lot of enthusiasm, with a lot of passion, with a lot of emotion so that they see the importance that Dominicans already have here in New York,” said the head of state.
He added: “And we are very proud honoring their work, everything they have done for our country.”
He also said that today there is justice for those Dominicans, and compatriots abroad, to whom he stressed his gratitude for how much they do for the Dominican Republic by constantly working with their country in mind.
He expressed happiness with all his Dominican compatriots who attended the parade, and, in the same way, he thanked them for their love.
This is the forty-first version of the Dominican Parade in New York, which began on Sixth Avenue and 36th Street and ended on 56th Street.
As a tradition for decades, the Manhattan Dominican Parade exalts the country’s traditions with music, floats and dances. This year’s commemoration has the slogan “Our History, Our People.”
