A Look at the 74th Annual Columbus Day Parade in New York City

Statue of Christopher Columbus in front
of the Columbus Citizens Foundation Townhouse
Photos by New York Scugnizzo & The Constantinian Chronicle

Italian American pride was on display Monday afternoon at the 74th Annual Columbus Day Parade in New York City. Over one million spectators and 130 marching groups from around the globe gathered along a bustling Fifth Avenue to celebrate the world-changing accomplishments of the great Genoese explorer, Christopher Columbus.

Once again we had the privilege of marching and it was a blast. However, the one drawback to being in the festive parade is you don’t get to see the other participants. So after finishing, we made a brief visit to the Columbus Citizens Foundation Townhouse (8 East 69th St.) before returning to the red carpet to catch the Lena Prima performance and the end of the parade. Happy Columbus Day!

Members and friends of the Sacred Military
Constantinian Order of St. George show their support

Count Justin Morin-Carpentier and Vincent Gangone Jr.
with a bevy of Miss Italia New York contestants

Arriving early, I was fortunate to see the San Silverio Society
of Dover Plains, New York unload their statue of San Silverio 

Alison Scola and Venessa Racci celebrating their heritage

There were plenty of participants from southern Italy 

Rocco Manzolillo (Left) and our pals from the Lt. Petrosino Association

Outside beautiful St. Patrick's Cathedral
Cav. John Viola with Bishop Nicolas DiMarzio

A million smiling faces lined 5th Avenue

Ken Rosato, Juliete Papa and Joe Piscopo covering the festivities on ABC7

It was a pleasure meeting Lena Prima, the daughter of legendary crooner
Louis Prima, at the Columbus Citizens Foundation Townhouse

Lena generously offered us an advanced copy of her new CD Prima la Famiglia

Lena had the bandstand jumping

Our pal Joe Peluso (center) and his KOC brethren

The Knights of Columbus were well represented

The Majorettes di Casperia, Rieti were fantastic

Devotees of San Pio on the red carpet

Alfio borrows a fan's megaphone and belts out a few tunes

Members of the Circolo Santa Margherita di Belice
making plenty of noise on the red carpet

UNICO National were well received

(Above & below) Members of the Orden de
Caballeros de las Capa Española de Valencia

Viva España!

Aside from the politicos, by far my least favorite contingent was the Juventus Fan Club. Admittedly, the marchers did nothing wrong, I just don’t like Juve. As a Napoli supporter I was more than a little amused to see the many Roma and Napoli fans in the crowd jeer them as they passed. Forza Napoli Sempre!