By Black Radio Network Staff
NEW YORK - The 47th annual West Indian Day Parade marched smartly through the streets of Brooklyn today, but the shooting of five people, with one dead, got the day's celebration off to a grim start.
It's estimated that about a million people viewed the colorful paraders under sunny skies.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blassio joined the parade with his wife and two children. The parade was especially poignant for de Blassio's wife Chirlane McCray, with roots in St. Lucia and Barbados.
The violence this year also marred last year's West Indian Day celebration, prompting the New York Police Department to increase its presence.