New York City holds inaugural Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage parade
NEW YORK -- As the Tri-State Area celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, another new parade rolled through Midtown on Sunday.
The city's first AAPI Heritage Parade marched up Sixth Avenue, from 44th Street to 55th Street. It featured 17 floats, and included more than 150 groups.
New York City is home to the second-largest Asian-American and Pacific Islander population in the U.S. Organizers told CBS2 the inaugural parade is giving the Asian-American community a chance to stand together, as it faces an alarming rise in hate crimes.
"It's a reminder that we are all Americans. We cannot be viewed as invisible or foreigners. We belong in America. We are part of the fabric of New York," said Doris Ling-Cohan, founder of the group Safety for all New Yorkers.
"That means we are getting to be mainstream. We belong, just as everybody else, as Americans," added Steven Tin, executive president and director of Better Chinatown USA.
Organizers said they had been applying for a permit to hold a parade in Midtown for many years. They thanked Mayor Eric Adams for finally giving the green light.