NYC Puerto Rican Day Parade Guide: Street Closures, Starting Time, Controversy

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — New York City's annual Puerto Rican Day Parade will be held on Sunday, June 11. The parade, which will celebrate its 60th year in 2017, is a celebration of the 3.5 million citizens of Puerto Rico and the more than 5 million people of Puerto Rican descent living in the United States, according to parade organizers.

This year the Puerto Rican Day Parade was hit by controversy when it was announced that recently-freed Puerto Rican Nationalist Oscar López-Rivera — the 74-year-old co-founder of the Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN) — would be honored as the first-ever "National Freedom Hero."

"Some people call him a terrorist while others think of him as a freedom fighter," Puerto Rican Day Parade officials wrote in a May 12 statement addressing the controversy.

Amid mounting controversy and boycotts López-Rivera eventually turned down the honor, and is no longer named on the parade's list of honorees. López-Rivera was never convicted of direct involvement in FALN bombings, but was convicted of transporting weapons for the group and, more generally, plotting to overthrow the U.S.

But despite the controversy, the parade must go on. Here's everything you need to know about this year's Puerto Rican Day Parade should you chose to attend, or avoid, the event.

What time does the parade start and end?

The parade will begin Sunday at 11 a.m. and end at 5 p.m.

What is the route for this year's parade? Will streets be closed?

The parade will be held in Midtown on Fifth Avenue. The march will begin on Fifth Avenue at 44th Street and will continue in a straight line up the avenue until 79th Street.

Large-scale parades such as the Puerto Rican Day Parade always call for traffic shutdowns not only along the parade route, but also on nearby streets. Here are the street closures that will be in effect during the parade, according to the NYC Department of Transportation.

Between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. these streets will be closed:

• 5th Avenue between 43rd Street and 85th Street;
• 44th Street to 48th Street between Madison Avenue and 6th Avenue;
• 79th Street to 83rd Street between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue.

How should one get to the parade?

The easiest way to get to the parade from anywhere in the city is by public transportation. With the amount of street closures and the mass of pedestrians in the vicinity of the parade route, driving is a bad idea. Add on that finding parking in Midtown — without resorting to an overpriced parking garage — is nearly impossible, and taking your car to the parade is just not worth it.

The MTA will increase service on trains heading in the direction of the parade route to accommodate spectators. The E, F, N, R and 7 lines all make stops along Fifth Avenue. Additionally, spectators can take a 4, 5 or 6 train to Lexington Avenue and walk over to the parade.

The following bus lines also provide service to the parade area, but will be skipping some stops on Sunday: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M31, M50, M57, M66, M72, Q32, BxM2, BxM3, BxM4, BxM6, BxM7, BxM8, BxM9, BxM10, BxM11, QM2, QM4, QM5, QM6, X1, X10 and X17.

For those trying to leave the area on Sunday morning, don't try going to the East 77th Street 6 train station. Because the MTA anticipate a lot of people coming to the parade to get off at that station it will be exit only from 7-9 a.m., according to an MTA press release.

Photo by Boss Tweed via Flickr/Creative Commons