Multiple people stabbed as West Indian American Day parade kicks off

Four men were stabbed in Crown Heights early Monday just hours before Brooklyn's West Indian American Day parade began. The victims, ages 20, 23, 32, and 36, were attacked near Carroll Street and Utica Avenue around 5:48 a.m., police said. A 32-year-old man and a 23-year-old man both suffered neck wounds, while a 36-year-old man was stabbed in the face and a 20-year-old man was wounded in the chin. EMS rushed the three older victims to Kings County Hospital, where the 32-year-old remained in critical condition Monday. The 23-year-old and 36-year-old were listed as stable, as was the 20-year-old, who arrived at the same hospital by private means, sources said. The bloodshed erupted mere blocks from the J'Ouvert Festival, the pre-dawn street party that starts at 6 a.m. And flows directly into the 11 a.m. Parade kickoff. Both events have long carried a reputation for violence that city officials have struggled to contain. This year's parade will shut down promptly at 5:30 p.m., a curtailed schedule imposed after six people were shot during last year's festivities. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch outlined the massive security footprint Friday ahead of the celebration. 'Thousands of NYPD cops will be on the parade routes and in the surrounding neighborhoods from Sunday night through Monday. This is one of our department's largest deployments of the year at this time,' she said. The annual Caribbean cultural celebration has been shadowed by deadly violence for more than a decade. In 2015, Carey Gabay, then an aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was fatally shot in the head when he was caught in gang crossfire during the festivities. The following year, a 22-year-old St. John's University student and a 17-year-old were both shot dead in the chest. In 2011, Brooklyn mother Denise Gay, 56, was killed while shielding her family from gunfire as she sat on the stoop of her Crown Heights home. Monday's stabbing adds to that grim pattern even as the J'Ouvert portion of this year's celebration reportedly remained violence-free. The NYPD has not announced arrests in the early-morning attack. The department's expanded presence this year reflects ongoing tension between preserving a beloved cultural tradition and protecting public safety in a neighborhood that has repeatedly witnessed bloodshed during what should be a celebration. The 5:30 p.m. Hard stop for the parade represents one of the most significant scheduling restrictions in recent years, a direct response to the six shootings that marred the 2024 event. PAGES: