U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, alongside other New York officials, is poised to honor Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader as the Grand Marshal in this Sunday’s Dominican Day Parade.
Espaillat told the Bronx Times in an interview Friday that he’s looking forward to hosting Abinader — the first time in the parade’s 41-year-history that the president will be the Grand Marshal.
“We have an exciting program honoring some of New York’s highest-ranking officials and a special recognition and keynote from our esteemed friend, the honorable Luis Abinader, president of the Dominican Republic,” Espaillat said. Instead of plaques or other common accolades, the congressmember said he’ll award Abinader with a traditional Caribbean “guayabera” — a summer shirt — during the public breakfast preceding the parade.
An undergraduate economics student at the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo and postgraduate project management student at the Arthur D. Little Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Abinader has long been involved in the national and international tourism, business and hospitality sectors, among others. According to information from the Dominican Republic embassy of the United States, Abinader was first elected vice president of the Dominican Revolutionary Party at its 2005 national convention, 15 years before his successful presidential bid in July 2020— where he won with about 52% of the votes.
Espaillat, who represents the Bronx in New York’s 13th Congressional District, was born in the Dominican Republic but raised in Washington Heights. And now the congressmember serves a borough that has similar roots to his. According to the Center for Latin American, Caribbean, and Latino Studies and CUNY’s Graduate Center, in 2019 47% of all Dominicans living in New York City lived in the Bronx.
Espaillat said he’s been to every Dominican Day Parade and that it’s important for all groups to express their cultures in community celebrations like these through music, dance and food. He said his kids usually attend the parade in the city, and that he hopes this year his grandson will be able to go.
“We love going to the parade every year,” Espaillat said.
The Dominican Day Parade breakfast begins on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. at the Hudson Restaurant at 348 Dyckman Street. All guests must RSVP by emailing Aneiry.Batista@gmail.com or calling 917-547-1147. The parade will run along 6th Avenue from 37th Street to 52nd Street in Manhattan from noon to 4 p.m.
The theme for this year’s parade is “Our History, Our People.”
Reach Camille Botello at cbotello@schnepsmedia.com. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
