Puerto Rican delegation pleased with NYC parade participation

Led by “King of Reggaeton” Daddy Yankee and former beauty queen Dayanara Torres (pictured), thousands of Puerto Ricans flocked to New York’s iconic Fifth Avenue on Sunday for the 69th edition of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade. (Facebook via PR Informa)

By THE STAR STAFF

Led by “King of Reggaeton” Daddy Yankee and former beauty queen Dayanara Torres, thousands of Puerto Ricans flocked to New York’s iconic Fifth Avenue on Sunday for the 69th edition of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade.

The event celebrates Puerto Rican culture, music and ethnic identity, standing out as the largest single-day Hispanic cultural festival in the United States.

“This has been an expression of a people who are full of life and have upheld their traditions and customs, especially regarding cultural endeavors,” said Puerto Rico Health Secretary Dr. Víctor Ramos Otero. “We are participating in these activities first because I am from Vega Baja -- I was born there and live there, and my children were born there -- and this parade here in New York is dedicated to our town. I am very proud of this historic moment as we mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the ‘Pueblo Melao Melao’ [Sweet Town].”

It was reported that the Puerto Rican delegation included the mayors of Guánica, Ponce, Barceloneta, Lares, Cayey, Jayuya, Aguada and Camuy. Island legislators in attendance included Reps. Marially González Huertas, Edgardo Feliciano Sánchez and Jorge Navarro Suárez, and Sen. Juan Oscar Morales Rodríguez. Representatives from the Centro Unido de Detallistas (United Retailers Center) -- including its president, Dr. Ramón Barquín, and Sheila Otero Boss (chair of the CUD Women’s Committee) -- also actively participated in the Puerto Rican Week events, alongside San Juan Capestrano System CEO Marta Rivera Plaza and and former legislators Rafael “Tatito” Hernández Montañez and Luis “Narmito” Ortiz Lugo.

Puerto Rican Week in New York concluded with a discussion on municipal development projects in Puerto Rico, where mayors presented their initiatives for the growth of their towns. Additionally, in collaboration with the New York Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the traditional “Café con Leche” event brought together most of the leaders who had traveled from Puerto Rico to participate in a seminar on the need to organize efforts to secure investors and funding for municipal projects. Ponce Mayor Marlese Sifre Rodríguez took the opportunity to call upon her fellow mayors for support in a joint effort -- alongside Mayor Alejandro Eder of Cali, Colombia -- to have salsa music declared a “World Cultural Heritage” by UNESCO.