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By Natalie Musumeci
Brooklyn Daily
Thousands of revelers flocked to Eastern Parkway on Monday for the annual West Indian-American Day Parade, despite extreme humidity and stormy skies.
There was no shortage of booming steel drum beats, bright floats, skillfully crafted costumes, and mouth-watering east at the parade through the heart of Crown Heights.
Scantily clad dancers donning elaborate feathered headdresses gyrated their way down Eastern Parkway for the 46th annual parade — the city’s largest — which celebrates Caribbean music, arts, food, and culture every Labor Day.
“It was loud and fun and full of pretty costumes,” said William Howard, first vice president of the West Indian American Day Carnival Association, which has been the driving force behind the parade since the organization was established in 1967.
“Everyone enjoyed themselves,” he said. “It was a great celebration of the Caribbean culture.”
Throngs of spectators waving flags of Caribbean countries packed the sidewalks along the two-mile-long parade route, which kicked off on Eastern Parkway at Schenectady Avenue, headed west toward Grand Army Plaza, and then turned onto Flatbush Avenue.
More than one million revelers were estimated to be at the massive parade, and with the Sept. 10 primary election looming, mayoral candidates were out in force, waving and shaking spectators’ hands.
“They were letting everybody know that they understand and know the Caribbean culture,” Howard said.
Borough President Markowitz joined Trinidadian disc jockey MC Wassy to serve as grand marshals for this year’s parade.
The procession has its roots in Manhattan parades that began in the 1940s.