Brooklyn Trinidad and Tobago parade is off as organizers, NYPD dispute what happened
The organizers said their original plan was to march along Flatbush Avenue toward Prospect Park. They claim the NYPD later asked them to change the date and move the route to Ocean Avenue.
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A Brooklyn parade celebrating Trinidad and Tobago’s independence will not take place Aug. 30 as advertised, but organizers and the NYPD disagree over why the event is off.
Flyers shared on social media invited people to join the celebration near Prospect Park. Organizers Juju Williamson and Terrence LaPierre said it would have been their third annual parade.
Williamson said people planned to travel from outside New York for the celebration, which was scheduled one day before Trinidad and Tobago’s Independence Day.
“A lot of people calling me right now. A lot of people upset because people are coming from out of town,” Williamson said.
The organizers said their original plan was to march along Flatbush Avenue toward Prospect Park. They claim the NYPD later asked them to change the date and move the route to Ocean Avenue.
LaPierre said the conversations with police changed after the Jamaican Day Parade earlier this month.
“After the Jamaican parade, we started to get calls from the precinct,” LaPierre said.
An NYPD officer was allegedly punched while breaking up a rowdy crowd after that parade. A 35-year-old woman was arrested and charged in the incident.
Williamson and LaPierre believe that incident led to greater concern about their event. However, the NYPD’s written decision does not mention the Jamaican Day Parade.
A permit notice dated Aug. 20 shows that the Trinidad and Tobago parade application was disapproved. The department said the proposed route would unreasonably disrupt traffic, including established bus and truck routes. It also said the event would require police resources needed to maintain emergency coverage in the surrounding area.
The notice said the NYPD was available to discuss another route, date or time.
Organizers argue that police selected Ocean Avenue before raising concerns about that same route.
“They changed the route. Now it’s a problem,” LaPierre said. “I feel we were treated wrongly because it’s our independence parade, and we were going to have everything well in order.”
The NYPD said it did not cancel the event because the organizers never had an approved permit. Police said they were given an opportunity to suggest an alternate date and route but chose not to.
Organizers dispute that account. They said they had already booked bands, invited community leaders and spent thousands of dollars preparing for the parade.
“To me, it’s biased, and to me, you’re trying to put one group against another,” Williamson said.
The organizers are now warning people not to show up for the parade Aug. 30.
