The National Dominican Day parade will start two hours earlier and run fewer blocks, with 500 more cops assigned compared to last year, when one man was slashed and the celebration was shut down early, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Friday.
“From my perspective, having looked at what occurred last year and the staffing numbers, we probably underdid the staffing at this parade,” Tisch said at a press conference. “That is one thing we are very intent on fixing this year.”
Chief Joseph Gulotta said there will be 957 uniformed officers assigned to Sunday’s parade, which will start at 11 a.m., instead of 1 p.m., and will run up Fifth Ave. from W. 38th to W. 55th St.
That number, he said, does not include officers from other additional units assigned to the parade, such as the K-9 Unit or officers who will fly drones above the parade.
“I think the increased personnel is going to make a big difference,” he said.
The parade, which debuted 43 years ago and typically draws 500,000 spectators, was marred last year when a 65-year-old man was slashed across the face on Eighth Ave., allegedly by a 20-year-old paradegoer, Joshua Cantero.
Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News
The Dominican Day Parade on Sixth Ave. in Manhattan is pictured on Sunday, August 11, 2024. (Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News)
Authorities said the victim was in his car, waiting for his wife to leave work, when Cantero jumped on top of the vehicle, apparently after having done so with other cars. The victim got out and argued with the suspect, who then allegedly slashed him in the face, hands and fingers. His hand and finger wounds required stitches.
Tisch also noted that “a small group of agitators jumped barricades and overwhelmed the route.”
Police then moved to end the parade early, cutting it short in advance of its scheduled endpoint at W. 59th St.
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