Hochul and Mamdani headline breakfast before West Indian American Day Carnival Parade
The governor pledged to fight immigration enforcement overreach, while Haitian-born council members pointed to the end of Temporary Protected Status.
NEW YORK, United States. New York Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani headlined the pre-parade breakfast at Lincoln Terrace Court on Buffalo Avenue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, on Monday, Labor Day, before the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade.
Other leaders at the breakfast and parade included Attorney General Letitia James, the Rev Al Sharpton, US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
"One Caribbean"
"One Caribbean! That is what we're celebrating here today," Hochul said, thanking the West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA), its Trinidad-born president Roger Archibald and Vincentian-born chairman Andrew Maloney.
"I know there's a lot of stress in our communities," she said. "People are afraid to leave their homes, afraid to go to their churches, afraid to take their kids to school."
"New York State is not a place we will ever, ever, ever support the overreach of ICE," she added, referring to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Today, we celebrate. Today, we march. Today, we're playing mas."
Mamdani said: "Today will be the celebration of every island of the Caribbean."
Haitian absence
Haitian bands and revellers were much less visible on the Parkway after the US Supreme Court sided with President Donald Trump on the deportation of 350,000 Haitian Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holders, many of whom lived in New York.
Haitian-born Council Member Mercedes Narcisse said the Parkway was packed, but added: "It's so unfortunate that seemingly every year a handful of people bring guns and knives to a community celebration. That is not our culture."
Her Haitian-born colleague Rita Joseph carried a placard reading: "TPS Ended. S. 4814 can restore", a reference to a Senate bill to restore TPS for Haitians.
Caribbean voices
Grenadian-American Supreme Court Justice Dena Douglas, who attended with Trinidad-born Justice Wavny Toussaint, said the parade "ensured that our Caribbean heritage continues to be seen, celebrated, and passed on to the next generation."
Guyanese-born State Senator Roxanne Persaud said: "There's truly nothing like the energy on Eastern Parkway."
Before the parade, Mamdani joined Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and WIADCA officials for a security briefing. "We know, however, that in the past, this parade has been accompanied by unacceptable violence," he said.
