Post by CrisItalia on Jun 13, 2005 7:52:57 GMT -5
A fun-filled fiesta on Fifth
Parade marred by knifing, 175 busts
By JIMMY VIELKIND, AMY SACKS and DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Fifth Ave. sizzled with boricua pride yesterday as hundreds of thousands celebrated at the Puerto Rican Day Parade - but the fun was marred when a cop was slashed and gang members tried to crash the march.
There were also three stabbings as cops made 175 arrests.
Most paradegoers, however, were unaware of the incidents as they reveled in the sun-splashed day, the joyous salsa beat and the red-white-and-blue outfits and flags.
"I love the parade, it's like a wall of family," said Joann Herrera, 21, of Union City, N.J., who got up at dawn to land a primo spot on Fifth Ave. "You come to the Puerto Rican Parade and you're one family."
High school drill teams showed off their moves, curvy beauty queens blew kisses, and reggaeton music idol Daddy Yankee gave the crowds one more reason to dance along Fifth Ave. from 44th to 86th Sts.
For Luis Mussenden, 26, yesterday was the realization of a life-long dream: to get to New York from his home in San Juan for the parade.
With a Puerto Rican flag painted on his chest and the words "Soy Boricua!" \["I am Puerto Rican!"\] across his back, there was no mistaking his message of pride. "I have Puerto Rico in my blood," Mussenden said.
Mayor Bloomberg marched along with his potential Democratic rival, Fernando Ferrer, who basked in the support of his fellow Puerto Ricans on a tropical June afternoon.
"What you're seeing here are people who are proud of where they came from and proud of where they are," the mayor declared.
Although the vast majority of people partied peacefully, a few incidents along the route threatened to give the event a black eye.
Three people were stabbed when a fight broke out at Fifth Ave. and W. 51st St. around 12:45 p.m. Cops said the injuries were minor and two attackers were arrested.
About an hour later, cops moved in to break up a group of about 150 Latin Kings gang members who gathered on Sixth Ave. near Central Park South and apparently planned to join the parade en masse.
Throngs of men wearing black-and-gold Latin Kings shirts linked arms and prepared to march when cops moved in to arrest them. Police said they recovered one gun and several knives.
"We just come over here to enjoy our day," said King Terra, 32, a self-proclaimed gang member from Jamaica, Queens. "They got arrested for no reason."
The cop was injured about 3:30 p.m. as two groups of youths faced off on Madison Ave. and E. 85th St., about a block from the end of the route.
Cops flooded the area and one officer was slashed on the hand. He was taken to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital and was listed in stable condition. The slashing suspect was arrested along with 18 other teens involved in the brawl.
Paradegoers denounced the violence - the first major incidents since the attacks on women after the 2000 parade - as the work of troublemakers.
"It ruins it," said Juan Coriano of Haverstraw, Rockland County. "It's a shame."
Most property owners listened to Mayor Bloomberg and avoided boarding up windows along the route, as in previous years. Some paradegoers, however, were still rankled to see wood covering the bottom-floor windows of some buildings along the wealthy strip.
"It's ridiculous - a statement of discrimination," said Ricardo Rivera, 35, of the Bronx.
With Bill Egbert, Jane H. Furse,
Robert F. Moore and Derek Rose
Parade marred by knifing, 175 busts
By JIMMY VIELKIND, AMY SACKS and DAVE GOLDINER
DAILY NEWS WRITERS
Fifth Ave. sizzled with boricua pride yesterday as hundreds of thousands celebrated at the Puerto Rican Day Parade - but the fun was marred when a cop was slashed and gang members tried to crash the march.
There were also three stabbings as cops made 175 arrests.
Most paradegoers, however, were unaware of the incidents as they reveled in the sun-splashed day, the joyous salsa beat and the red-white-and-blue outfits and flags.
"I love the parade, it's like a wall of family," said Joann Herrera, 21, of Union City, N.J., who got up at dawn to land a primo spot on Fifth Ave. "You come to the Puerto Rican Parade and you're one family."
High school drill teams showed off their moves, curvy beauty queens blew kisses, and reggaeton music idol Daddy Yankee gave the crowds one more reason to dance along Fifth Ave. from 44th to 86th Sts.
For Luis Mussenden, 26, yesterday was the realization of a life-long dream: to get to New York from his home in San Juan for the parade.
With a Puerto Rican flag painted on his chest and the words "Soy Boricua!" \["I am Puerto Rican!"\] across his back, there was no mistaking his message of pride. "I have Puerto Rico in my blood," Mussenden said.
Mayor Bloomberg marched along with his potential Democratic rival, Fernando Ferrer, who basked in the support of his fellow Puerto Ricans on a tropical June afternoon.
"What you're seeing here are people who are proud of where they came from and proud of where they are," the mayor declared.
Although the vast majority of people partied peacefully, a few incidents along the route threatened to give the event a black eye.
Three people were stabbed when a fight broke out at Fifth Ave. and W. 51st St. around 12:45 p.m. Cops said the injuries were minor and two attackers were arrested.
About an hour later, cops moved in to break up a group of about 150 Latin Kings gang members who gathered on Sixth Ave. near Central Park South and apparently planned to join the parade en masse.
Throngs of men wearing black-and-gold Latin Kings shirts linked arms and prepared to march when cops moved in to arrest them. Police said they recovered one gun and several knives.
"We just come over here to enjoy our day," said King Terra, 32, a self-proclaimed gang member from Jamaica, Queens. "They got arrested for no reason."
The cop was injured about 3:30 p.m. as two groups of youths faced off on Madison Ave. and E. 85th St., about a block from the end of the route.
Cops flooded the area and one officer was slashed on the hand. He was taken to St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital and was listed in stable condition. The slashing suspect was arrested along with 18 other teens involved in the brawl.
Paradegoers denounced the violence - the first major incidents since the attacks on women after the 2000 parade - as the work of troublemakers.
"It ruins it," said Juan Coriano of Haverstraw, Rockland County. "It's a shame."
Most property owners listened to Mayor Bloomberg and avoided boarding up windows along the route, as in previous years. Some paradegoers, however, were still rankled to see wood covering the bottom-floor windows of some buildings along the wealthy strip.
"It's ridiculous - a statement of discrimination," said Ricardo Rivera, 35, of the Bronx.
With Bill Egbert, Jane H. Furse,
Robert F. Moore and Derek Rose
