A 19-year-old was stabbed and slashed in Midtown on Sunday.
The victim was stabbed twice in his back and slashed across his body during some sort of argument along 42nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenue, just after 2:30 p.m.
The incident occurred on a day when
the National Dominican Day Parade returned to New York City on Sunday and was expected to draw 400,000 spectators, with city officials gathered for the ribbon cutting to start the 44th annual event.
Police are holding two people of interest, and the victim is recovering at the hospital.
The man was transported to
NYC Health+Hospitals/Bellevue
following the violent encounter outside Bryant Park.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said “More than 1 in 8 New Yorkers have Dominican roots, and today is a celebration of all that the community has given this city and we’re so proud that so many Dominican New Yorkers know this city as their home.”
The stabbing marred what had been largely a peaceful celebration of Dominican culture.
Gov. Kathy Hochul offered a show of solidarity with the Dominican people, saying “We honor them, we celebrate them. We also want to protect them from the overreach of ICE, which is terrifying people on our streets all across America. That has to stop. We’re here in New York state to stand strong against the overreach.”
The enhanced police presence on Sunday was a direct response to previous violence.
The NYPD deployed enhanced gun- and gang-focused teams during and after the National Dominican Day Parade in Manhattan, less than two weeks after officers recovered 16 firearms during and after the Bronx’s Dominican Day Parade.
That earlier Bronx event on July 26 had seen significant violence in its aftermath.
A 19-year-old man was stabbed in the hip, a 24-year-old man was shot in the buttocks and a man and a woman, both 19, were shot in the neck and ankle in the same location.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said “We will have enhanced deployments of our teams that deal with guns and gangs, particularly once the parade concludes, to ensure that we do everything we can to avoid those issues this weekend.”
The Midtown stabbing on Sunday came hours after officials had detailed security plans.
NYC officials held a news conference Friday to outline security plans ahead of Sunday’s Dominican Day Parade in Manhattan after gun arrests at the Bronx parade two weeks ago, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch joining community leaders for a security briefing.
In the viral moment on Sunday afternoon near Bryant Park,
the colorful sights, sounds and spirit of the 44th annual National Dominican Day Parade marched through Midtown Manhattan, traveling along Sixth Avenue between West 37th and West 55th streets.
Thousands of people were expected to line the parade route, waving Dominican flags as merengue and bachata music filled Midtown, with organizers saying the event is the largest Dominican celebration in the country, with more than 10,000 registered participants expected to take part.
The festive atmosphere shattered when violence erupted outside Bryant Park.