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NYC Dominican Day Parades 2025

Dominican Independence Parades in Four of the Five Boroughs NYC

July 14, 2025 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Parades / Gotham Buzz NYC.

NYC Weather Forecast as of 7.14.25. Update coming with the Friday / Weekend post.

The photo at right was taken at one of the NYC Dominican Parades in NYC in a prior year.

There were four Dominican Day Parades in NYC up until a few years ago, but the Brooklyn Dominican Day Parade appears to have been discontinued. Nonetheless, there are still Dominican Day parades in Queens, the Bronx and Manhattan in June, July and August 2025, respectively.

CLICK here for a brief report and links to NYC Dominican Day Parades in NYC - Dominican Independence Day Parades in Manhattan Brooklyn Queens Bronx & Staten Island.

NYC Dominican Day Parades 2025

Dominican Independence Parades in Four of the Five Boroughs NYC

July 14, 2025 / NYC Neighborhoods / NYC Parades / Gotham Buzz NYC. Continued.

Dominican Republic - Brief History

The Dominican Day Parade celebrates the Dominican Republic fight for independence which began in 1863 and ended in 1865. The Dominican Republic occupies the east side and over half of the second largest island in the Caribbean [Cuba is the largest], which it shares with Haiti. Both the Spanish and the French occupied the island, hence the two separate states. Haiti is located on the west side of the island and was the area generally occupied by the French, while the Dominican Republic is located on the east side of the island and represents the area occupied by Spain. The Taino people are the indigenous people of the island.

Today, over 11 million people live in the Dominican Republic, of which about 1/3 live in the capital city, Santo Domingo. The economy of the Dominican Republic consists of agricultural products like sugar, cocoa and coffee, tourism, services and manufacturing.

What You'll See at the NYC Dominican Day Parades

There's a piece written about the Dominican Parade that included some explanation of the costumes worn during it. Here's an excerpt from a Baruch CUNY webpage which they attribute to two sources including the Dominican Parade and the NY Daily News,

" ... the diablos cojuelo (lame devils) who traditionally perform in Dominican Republic's Carnival celebration. The diablos cojuelo wear long horned masks, colorful ruffled costumes, and wield thick bullwhips fashioned out of ropes. The diablos cojueros are a direct reference to the traditions of the Dominican carnival. It is said that one of the reasons the lame devils came to be was because of the difficulties of moving around in the crowded streets during the festivities. For instance the whip and the inflated pig bladder carried by the lame devils were used to ward off the crowds. The themes and the costumes in the parade come from various influences, many of which can be traced back to old religious traditions of the Dominican Republic ...".