This year’s theme is “Bring the Hostages Home,” a reminder of the 125 hostages that have been held captive in the Gaza Strip for 239 days.
With greatly heightened security in place, over 40,000 marchers gathered for ‘Israel Day on 5th,’ the annual parade in support of Israel.
Due to the tragic events of the past eight months since October 7th, this year’s parade was dedicated to hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
New York Mayor Eric Adams said that the New York City Police Department doubled its regular presence.
“This is the first major large Jewish event since October 7, and we are extremely conscious of the over 3,000 protests that took place in our city since that day,” Adams said at a press conference.
The route of the parade, which has been held annually in New York City since 1964, runs north on Fifth Avenue from 57th to 74th streets.
NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said the parade included “screening checkpoints at points of entry, as well as bike teams, aviation, K-9, transit and our other specialized units.”
The NYPD’s Counterterrorism and Intelligence Bureau personnel was deployed, Caban said, while stressing that there were “no specific or credible threats to the parade or to New York City in general.
“For 60 years, people from around the world have come to New York to celebrate our city’s proud Jewish heritage. Sunday’s parade is the largest celebration of its kind outside of Israel, and the NYPD is there to make sure everything runs smoothly,” Caban said.