Thousands of peoplę§e and a handful of New York elected officials waved blue-and-white flags anđd sang Hebrew songs as they gathered along a police-lined Fifth Avenue Sunday for the 54th annual Celebrate Israel Parade.
Gov. Cuomo, Sen. Chuck Schuđŗmer and Mayor de Blasio separately walked in the five-hour procession while a group of pro-Palestinian protesters shouted fromâ the sidelines.
Cuomo, the paradeâs âHonorary Grand Marshal,â walked alongside New York Jewisđ h community leaders and rabbis while staff hđanded out campaign literature embossed with an Israeli flag.
âI think this is a very important time to stand up and say we support Israel and we want to make that loud and clear and we want Israel to hear it,â Cuomo said. âIsrael is a reliable ally in a very dangerous part of the world . . . and we understand hđ°ow important that alliance is, culturally as New Yorkers.â
The NYPD took no chances in light of heightened tensions in the Middle East after the Trump administration opened a new US Embassy in Jerusalem last month, erecting metal fencing along the parade route hours before it started. An estimated 1,000 officers staffed the parade and confined protesters to a small area in Grand Armyđģ đPlaza south of Central Park.
Zev Berman, 58, a tech worker fręŠĩom Queens, said heâs been attending the parade with his family since he was 12 years old.
âI see a lot more local politicians than recent previous years,â heāĩŠ noted. âThisđ is a public support of the state of Israel.â