Caribbean Community Leader Criticizes NYC Govt. Decision To Shorten The West Indian American Day Carnival

By Staff Writer, NewsAmericas Now

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. Sept. 7, 2026: As the 59th annual West Indian American Day Carnival gets underway in Brooklyn, NY today, a Caribbean American community leader is criticizing New York City government’s decision to shorten the Parade, arguing the move won’t address the root causes of gun violence at the event and could set a troubling precedent for the celebration’s future.

Rickford Burke, president of the Caribbean Guyana Institute for Democracy, wrote in a commentary that Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch’s decision to end this year’s parade at 5:30 p.m., down from its usual schedule, “lacks focused, strategic thinking” as a response to gun violence. The change follows three shootings that injured six people during last year’s parade, prompting NYPD to shut down celebrations early.

“How does shortening the parade mitigate violence? How would this decision deter criminals from committing acts of violence between 10 a.m and the new end time of 5:30?” Burke wrote, calling the move “expedient, superficial and impulsive” and warning it unfairly penalizes law-abiding attendees.

FLASHBACK – One of the floats at a a scaled-down version of the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade moves down Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn on September 6, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NYC GOVT.

Tisch said at a Friday press conference announcing the change that “for too long, a select few have mistaken the West Indian Day Parade as an opportunity to commit acts of violence,” adding there would be “zero tolerance for violence of any kind” this year. Thousands of police officers will secure the area, marking one of the department’s largest deployments of the year. Mayor Mamdani on Friday said “With the measures that we have put into place this year, we are confident that every New Yorker will be able to celebrate this parade freely and safely.” In 2025, five people were shot and two were slashed in the hours after the parade, and in 2024, one man was killed and four others were hurt in a shooting during the parade.

Burke said he agreed with that sentiment, but said the “hooliganism and thuggery” that does not represent Caribbean culture. Instead of shortening the event, Burke called for New York City to apply the same security measures used at other major events, including the Celebrate Israel Parade and New Year’s Eve celebrations in Times Square, citing heavy police presence, random searches and security checkpoints. He noted the NYPD assigned roughly 10,000 officers to this year’s Israeli parade, which drew under 100,000 attendees, compared with just under 8,000 officers for the West Indian Day Parade, which he said traditionally draws about six million people.

“Let’s start by surging more cops and implementing stricter safety measures at the parade before we start chipping away at its foundations,” Burke wrote, cautioning that gradual changes to the parade’s format could eventually lead to discussions about ending it altogether. “Never!” he added.

Burke emphasized that Caribbean community leaders have partnered with police for generations to keep the parade and other community events safe, and said he shares officials’ goal of a safe celebration. But he cautioned against measures he said could be “disguised as safety precautions” while undermining the event’s cultural significance.

PUBLIC ADVOCATE

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, whose roots run to Grenada, said Friday: “I don’t think there’s any more reason to fear to come out on Labor Day, and I think the fact that we have the mayor that we do, the police commissioner that we do, the elected officials that we do, we’re going to do everything in our power to protect everyone that’s here. And so, we want everybody to come celebrate, it might be a moment of reprieve in a very, very tough time.”

MAYOR MANDANI

Mayor Mamdani last week welcomed Caribbean community leaders to Gracie Mansion for a Caribbean Heritage Reception ahead of today’s Labor Day Parade, using the evening to honor the diaspora’s influence on the city while addressing what he called the “fear” gripping Haitian New Yorkers since the federal government revoked their Temporary Protected Status.

“It is an honor to welcome you to Gracie Mansion as we celebrate our Caribbean community right here in New York City,” Mamdani said, addressing a room that included Deputy Mayor for Community Safety Renita Francois, Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels, New York City Sheriff Edwin Raymond, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and State Senator Jabari Brisport.

The mayor, who described growing up watching West Indies cricket legends and attending the 2007 Cricket World Cup in Antigua with his family, framed the reception around a story of Caribbean solidarity, from the cricket pitch to the city’s neighborhoods.

“That legacy of Caribbean greatness has stayed with me because we know that it’s a legacy that is not limited to cricket,” Mamdani said, citing Flatbush, Wakefield, Canarsie, Rosedale, Richmond Hill and Crown Heights as neighborhoods shaped by Caribbean New Yorkers. Mamdani turned more serious in addressing the federal revocation of Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants, which he said had “plunged many Caribbean Neew Yorkers’ lives into fear.”

“In the face of this kind of a sudden and immense instability, of this kind of cruelty, what the Caribbean community has done has been what the Caribbean has done for decades in this city: founding benevolent associations to look after one another,” he said, pointing to volunteer-led Know Your Rights sessions in Haitian Creole and unpaid translators helping neighbors navigate paperwork.

Today’s J’Ouvert runs from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. today while the West Indian American Day Carnival parade begins at 11 a.m. and ends promptly at 5:30 p.m. Thirteen entry points featuring magnetometers will screen attendees. Banned items include weapons, alcohol, large bags, and drones. Singers Buju Banton and Kes will be among the grand marshals at this year’s parade.

STREET CLOSURES: Street closures in Brooklyn on Sept. 7:

West Indian American Day Parade Route

Eastern Parkway between Ralph Avenue and Plaza Street West
J’Ouvert Festival Route

Eastern Parkway between Ralph Avenue and Plaza Street West
Flatbush Avenue between Grand Army Plaza and Empire Boulevard/Ocean Avenue
Empire Boulevard between Flatbush Avenue and Nostrand Avenue
Nostrand Avenue between Empire Boulevard and Rutland Road

Additional Location(s):

Grand Army Plaza (Entire Circle)
Butler Place between Grand Army Plaza and Sterling Place
St. Johns Place between Underhill Avenue and Grand Army Plaza
Flatbush Avenue between Grand Army Plaza and Caton Avenue
Washington Avenue between Sterling Place and Lincoln Road
Bedford Avenue between Eastern Parkway and Empire Boulevard
Rochester Avenue between East New York Avenue and Sterling Place
Buffalo Avenue between Eastern Parkway and East New York Avenue
Ralph Avenue between Eastern Parkway and East New York Avenue
Ocean Avenue between Empire Boulevard and Parkside Avenue
Nostrand Avenue between Empire Boulevard and Linden Boulevard
Eastern Parkway (Main & Service Roads) between Plaza Street East and Howard Avenue
Lincoln Place between Eastern Parkway and East New York Avenue
Rockaway Parkway between East New York Avenue and Kings Highway
East New York Avenue between Howard Avenue and Utica Avenue
Parkside Avenue between Park Circle and Flatbush Avenue

NewsAmericasNow will continue covering today’s West Indian Day Parade.

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