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American Morning

West Indian American Day Parade Kicks Off In Brooklyn

Aired September 02, 2002 - 09:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Such a morning it is in New York City for the largest festival of the year in this town, celebrating Caribbean culture. The West Indian American Day parade kicks off in Flatbush, Brooklyn in just a little while.
And on holidays, it's always fun to see who gets the best assignments.

Michael Okwu drew the very short straw, and is standing in the rain in Brooklyn.

Good morning -- Mike. I guess the rain won't dampen the spirits, though. I have seen this when the weather is good. It is spectacular.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is spectacular. That means, I guess, you want to switch assignments?

CAFFERTY: It's not that spectacular.

OKWU: Got you, Jack. Got you.

Well, organizers say that this whole thing is going to start, if it ever does in the torrential downpour here, at about 11:00 this morning. The revelers are going to make their way down Eastern Parkway to Grand Army Plaza, which is a war monument just about a mile down the road or so.

But we don't know when people are going to start showing up. We know that about an hour or so ago, that people started preparing some of the 80 floats that are going to be part of this parade. And these floats really are the reason why so many people here call this, not just a parade, but a carnival, really the end -- the culmination of the four-day festival of events here in the Caribbean community.

Some of these floats are known as being among the most colorful and the most visual at any event in New York City. Some 80 of them are expected to be here starting at about 11:00 and representing a variety West Indian cultures.

And you can you expect that there is going to be a lot of music here, everything from calypso to reggae to steel drums. It sounds very quiet right now, other than the rain hitting the cement. But usually, in the past, what you hear along these streets is just a lot of loud, festive music.

And one of the reasons people come to this parade is also to see some of the outlandish gear that some people are going to be wearing. We understand that people wear everything from costumes festooned with peacock hair to basically pineapple from head to toe.

Some two million people are expected at the parade this year. It is unclear at this point whether all of those two million are going to show up in the rain today. And where there is a parade, there are also politicians. Expect to see some of them here, glad-handing some of the revelers.

Back to you -- Jack.

CAFFERTY: All right, thank you -- Michael Okwu out in Flatbush, Brooklyn.

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