America partied hard this weekend. In Brooklyn, Puerto Rican joy was out in full force
By Bianca Betancourt, CNN. Photographs by David Dee Delgado for CNN.
(CNN) — For a mile-long stretch of Bushwick, Brooklyn, a sea of red, white and blue floods the streets. One corner boasts a DIY speaker setup blasting old-school reggaeton courtesy of Tego Calderón and Plan B, another plays throwback salsa from Héctor Lavoe and El Gran Combo. Booming horns pulse through the air; vendors pour “piragua” snow cones and serve watermelon and coconut ice cream to those looking to cool down; and elders kick back in personal lawn chairs taking in the festivities, which include surprise appearances from Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Knicks star (and newly crowned NBA champion) Jose Alvarado.
Despite the heat and humidity, a palpable sense of pride ripples through the crowd. This is, after all, what fuels New York City’s Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend, year after year.
The nation partied a lot this weekend – revealing strikingly different stories of America during its 250th summer. Some 200 miles away, there was another kind of red, white and blue blur on the White House lawn as UFC fighters traded blows in an ostentatious display of masculinity as part of official semiquincentennial events and President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday. Meanwhile, the US announced itself on the international sporting stage, co-hosting the World Cup and kicking off with a blistering 4-1 win over Paraguay on Friday. Back in New York City, the euphoria of the Knicks’ Saturday night NBA triumph bled into Sunday’s Puerto Rican parade, transforming the multicultural gathering into a kind of victory rally.
The Bushwick event coincides with a long-running parade that has seen Puerto Rican New Yorkers (or “Nuyoricans”) take to Manhattan’s streets every second Sunday in June since 1958. Now attracting millions of participants and spectators, it is a communal ritual that has become deeply embedded in the city’s Puerto Rican communities.
Originally held in Spanish Harlem, the main parade migrated to its current route down Midtown’s Fifth Avenue in its second year. Today, however, celebrations stretch across the city, with dance parties, festivals and community activities taking place across the Lower East Side, Brooklyn’s Sunset Park and Bushwick.
“There’re more Puerto Ricans in the US than there are on the island right now. Now that I’ve been here in the city for 13 years, there’s a lot of longing to be back home,” says Monica Santos Gil, the founder of New York-based handbag brand Santos by Monica and a passionate festival-goer. “For those who maybe feel less connected to the culture of the island, the parade is such an incredible opportunity for Puerto Ricans to come together, celebrate that connection and feel close to home.”
It’s a sentiment shared by Edwin Reyes, a Bronx-based fashion designer.
“Growing up in New York, my form of the Puerto Rican diaspora is very different from others’,” Reyes says. “Because I have the culture of being Puerto Rican, but also New York culture, going to the Puerto Rican parade is such an incredible moment of bringing those two landscapes together. It’s a yearly reminder that says, ‘OK these are my people.’”
While the Manhattan parade attracts families, tourists and a bevy of corporate sponsors, in Bushwick a younger — and slightly more raucous crowd cheer, sing and dance their way to the edge of Maria Hernandez Park. The Bushwick event also serves as a lively display of Puerto Rican fashion — a style that, according to Santos Gil, can be hard to define.
“Americans tend to wear their Puerto Rican pride very noticeably — you see the flags and symbols, from their clothes to even their cars, and it goes back to that longing and connection to being part of the island,” she says. ”On the island, it’s a little bit more laid back. There’s a relationship to color, the climate that surrounds you when you’re there, and nature, so people use lighter fabrics,” adds Santos Gil. “Whereas here, you’re absorbing the energy of a city — it’s a bit bolder and more urban.”
Some of the event’s stylish revellers incorporate vintage graphic tees featuring legendary salseros, cornflower blue basketball shorts, special-edition Nike sneakers, and Puerto Rican flags reimagined into any and every garment or accessory imaginable (Earrings! Crop tops! Headbands!).
Puerto Rican iconography has become an essential part of Nuyorican fashion.
For each year’s celebrations, Reyes’ namesake label designs a look that embraces symbols stemming from the island, like 2025’s statement-making, red, white and blue ruffled organza maxi skirt. This year’s design is a soft, baby blue gown — paying homage to the color of the island’s original 1895 flag— embroidered with subtle motifs, including yellow taxi cabs, the Brooklyn bridge and the Puerto Rico’s national flower, the flor de maga.
In a year that saw Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny became the first artist to perform a Super Bowl half-time show entirely in Spanish, there are arguably more eyes on the island and its cultural output than ever before.
“This feels obvious, but Puerto Rican culture is having a real moment globally,” says Santos Gil. “People are becoming more interested in the stories, history and culture of Puerto Ricans in general. It’s not just us celebrating our culture, even though we do have a culture unlike any other. All of my friends who are not Puerto Rican are always so impressed. They’re like, ‘Wow, I love the way you guys party and celebrate. It’s so unique.’ And it really is.”
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