NEW YORK -- The city's West Indian Day Parade thundered down a thoroughfare Monday with its usual colorful, musical energy, but gun violence shocked the festivities to a stop in spots.
Two people were struck by bullets at about 3 p.m. on the Brooklyn parade route, Eastern Parkway in the Crown Heights neighborhood, police said, but their injuries weren't believed to be life-threatening. Earlier, a spectator pulled out a gun, fired a shot into the air and fled in a livery cab, but he was intercepted by police and arrested.
The annual Labor Day parade celebrates the culture of the Caribbean islands and is one of the city's largest outdoors events. Modeled on traditional Carnival festivities, it features dancers wearing enormous feathered costumes, music and plenty of food.
"This parade is fabulous!" said Arnold Caballero, who was manning a huge barbecue on a sidewalk. "There are people of all countries, and you meet friends you haven't seen for years."
The 52-year-old Trinidad native estimated that by day's end, he would sell about 500 pounds of jerk and curry chicken, beef and pork from the stand he's run for a decade with two friends.
New York's mayor, governor, police commissioner and other elected officials showed up to start the day.
High-spirited spectators behind police barricades joined in with impromptu dancing as music pounded from massive loudspeakers aboard floats rumbling through the neighborhood, which also is home to the world headquarters of the Lubavitch Orthodox Jewish community.
Some sat on their porches watching people wave the bright flags of their native islands and enjoy Caribbean delicacies sold by vendors.
But it was not an entirely festive day. Violence has marred the parade for years, with fatal shootings along the route in 2003 and 2005. Police helicopters hovered overhead Monday, and officers on patrolled the surrounding blocks.
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