By The Star Staff
U.S. Reps. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) lead the list of individuals who will receive awards at the 4th Recognition Ceremony of the island delegation that participates in Puerto Rican Week and National Puerto Rican Parade activities in New York.
The event scheduled for Friday, Nov. 8 at the Convention Center in Miramar and organized by the Puerto Rico Police Members Association, will be held three days after the island’s general elections and will be the first event in which the new governor-elect will appear.
“We traditionally invite the governor in office and we already have the commitment of the campaign coordinators of the different political parties, which will allow the winner of the general election process to be with us as a guest speaker,” said Wilson Nazario, coordinator of the Puerto Rican Delegation that will travel to New York to participate in the activities of next year’s Puerto Rican Week and the National Puerto Rican Parade.
Other figures who will be recognized at the event by the Delegation Committee include Rafael Hernández Montañez (speaker of the island House of Representatives), José Luis Dalmau Santiago (president of the island Senate), Grégory Gonsález Souchet (mayor of Peñuelas), Lt. José J. Taboada de Jesús (president of the Puerto Rico Police Members Association), Rep. Eddie Charbonier Chinea, Luis Vélez (councilman of New Jersey), Jesús Márquez Rodríguez (mayor of Luquillo), Fabián Arroyo Rodríguez (mayor of Lares), Jorge “Georgie” Luis González Otero (mayor of Jayuya), Héctor Camacho (manager PR-Virgin Islands, Jet Blue), Luis Rodríguez Díaz (executive director of the Traffic Safety Commission), Johnny Cruz of the Salsa Museum in New York, Wilson D. Nazario Cruz (president of Interstate General Construction), Pablo Crespo Claudio (former executive director of the Commonwealth Employees Association, or AEELA), Dr. Ramón Barquín III (president of the United Retailers Center of PR), Carlos Mercado (director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company), and Matilde Rodríguez (the oldest person to march in the 2024 parade and a native of Lares).
Meanwhile, three companies will receive recognition for their efforts to help the delegation: Koffy Brunch & Bistro from Palmas del Mar in Humacao, Potrero Los Llanos in Coamo and AEELA.
“It is very important for us to make these recognitions since the Delegation and the CROEM ALUMNI organization were able to [stage] the most important activity held during Puerto Rican Week in New York last year, which was the ‘Third Conversation on the Empowerment of Communities and Opportunities for SMEs’ (small and midsize businesses) who want to do business in New York, which brought together hundreds of leaders of small and midsize businesses,” said Marcel García Burgos, the CROEM ALUMNI presidential delegate for the activities held in New York last June. “We are already planning our Fifth Conversation, for which several topics have emerged that we hope to announce soon.”
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