Rosy Parade:
It’ll be Melo, too, for Puerto Rican Day fest
NOT EVEN the fiscal crisis in Puerto Rico could put a damper on one of New York’s biggest celebrations of the year. Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony and actress-activist Rosario Dawson will be among the Boricua bigs honored next month at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in Manhattan, it was announced Tuesday at a Midtown event. The Brooklyn-born Anthony, whose father was Puerto Rican, was named parade king. Dawson, whose mother is Puerto Rican, was selected queen of the 59th annual parade, which will be held Sunday, June 12. An estimated crowd of 1.5 million flag-waving revelers are expected to line Fifth Ave. to cheer on about 100,000 marchers from the New York area as well as Puerto Rico. But the island’s ongoing $70 billion debt crisis, which has helped ravage its already-fragile economy, had the parade’s board of directors contemplating whether such a massive and expensive celebration was appropriate, according to parade chairwoman Lorraine CortesVasquez. “This year, in the face of the situation and crisis in Puerto Rico, it was not an easy decision,” Cortes-Vasquez said at Tuesday’s press event. “We went back and forth: Should we celebrate? Should we have a parade? “What we decided was that there’s no better time for us to be on Fifth Ave., having our students and leadership representing the best of our community,” Cortes-Vasquez added.
Among the Latino luminaries joining Anthony and Dawson on colorful floats will be singer Ednita Nazario, this year’s grand marshal, and actress and TV personality Giselle Blondet, named parade godmother. Yonkers native Adam Rodriguez, who plays Eric Delko on “CSI: Miami,” is parade godfather.
The lifetime achievement honorees are salsa music icon Andy Montañez and Candy Maldonado, the retired outfielder who spent most of his 15-year baseball career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants.
“Boricua Destacado” (Distinguished Boricua) honors go to telenovela actress Jeimy Osorio and Brooklyn-based comic book creator Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez, who on Tuesday unveiled a new superheroine, “La Borinqueña,” to help educate young readers about Puerto Rican history.
The parade isn’t all about recognizing bold-faced names, however. The themes for the event will be family unity, marriage equality and LGBT rights, Cortes-Vasquez said.
Also getting special recognition will be high school students considered “rising stars” in STEM — science, technology, engineering and math.
“We have many accomplishments, but we also have many challenges,” said City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “And being able to use (the parade) as a way of galvanizing and mobilizing our community is critical.”