Cops shut down NYC Dominican Day Parade as unruly crowd swarms 6th Ave. and teen slashes 65yo: sources
Authorities abruptly shut down the Dominican Day Parade in Manhattan on Sunday when a massive, unruly crowd swarmed the Midtown route and a teen slashed a 65-year-old man across the face, law-enforcement sources said.
The 42-year-old parade — which draws a half-million spectators and features 113 organizations, including community groups, carnival bands and government officials — was supposed to continue along Sixth Avenue until West 59th Street, the entrance to Central Park.
But the crowd grew more and more boisterous — especially when several rappers on floats rolled through — and spectators started jumping the barricades around 46th Street.
The NYPD scrambled to restore order, standing the barricades back up, holding the floats in place and making one arrest, sources said.
A 19-year-old man was busted around 3:45 p.m. in front of 266 W. 45th St. for cutting a 65-year-old man on the face and hand during a dispute as cops dispersed the crowd, sources said. The victim was taken to the hospital in stable condition. A knife was recovered at the scene, sources said.
Cops diverted the parade off Sixth Avenue and onto 52nd Street — including several floats that were barred from finishing the route.
“We’re shutting it down — at this point, it’s gotten out of hand,” a police source told The Post.
Some revelers were upset at the late changes.
“I don’t really understand why they shut it down, we were just having fun,” said Cynthia Lopez, a 17-year-old who has been coming to the parade since she was a little girl.
“No one was hurt. No one was fighting. We were all having fun, dancing and boom — shut down.”
“I can’t believe it,” she said.
