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76th Annual Greek Independence Day Parade
By Stephanie Nikolopoulos on Monday, April 23rd, 2007
Blue and white colored Fifth Avenue yesterday for the 76th Annual Greek Independence Day Parade, dedicated to religious freedom. Greek Americans from throughout the TriState area lined 61st to 76th streets to celebrate their heritage — and the fact that for the first time ever the largest Greek parade outside of Greece was televised.
Anna Vissi was the Honorary Marshal. The Cyprus-born pop star (sometimes referred
to as “The Greek Madonna”) has sold 9.5 million albums across the world.
American Idol’s Constantine Maroulis was also there. Maroulis’ grandparents immigrated from Greece to the States in the 1920s, and he himself grew up in Brooklyn and Wyckoff, New Jersey.
Guiding Light star Frank Dicopoulos was another celebrity present.
Honored guests included the Hellenic Navy Band and Evzones (Greece’s elite Presidential Guard).
Government officials from Greece and the US were also there.
Greek-Americans Ernie Anastos and Nick Gregory hosted the event, along with fellow newsanchor Rosanna Scotto. Although they are Fox 5 correspondents, the parade actually aired on WWOR-TV My9.
What I want to know is, is it “uncool” to be Greek in America? Why did it take so long for the Greek parade to be televised when both the St. Patrick’s Day parade and the Puerto Rican Day parade are televised? After all, as one float pointed out, Greece is the foundation of civiliazation.
The first Greek came to the United States in 1528, and there are now around 3,000,000 Americans of Greek descent, most of whom live in New York, according to world’s best source for user-contributed knowledge, Wikipedia.
Some of the most famous Greek Americans include:
Were you at the parade? Did you see it on TV? Let us know what you think about the reflection of Greek Americans in the media.
This entry was posted on Monday, April 23rd, 2007 by Stephanie Nikolopoulos and is filed under History.
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April 24th, 2007 at 10:03 am
What is it about a parade?? Doesn’t matter what you’re celebrating- you have to love a parade.
April 24th, 2007 at 10:16 am
melanie, you are so right, everyone loves a parade…were there any clowns there?
April 24th, 2007 at 10:31 am
No clowns at the parade — just adorable little children dressed up in ethnic outfits, a dog decked out in blue and white, teens with Greek flags as capes and faces painted. There were floats and marching bands, with some Greek dancing, but nothing too wild.
April 24th, 2007 at 10:34 am
I think the parade was wonderful - a great effort by all involved!
My take on timing is that organizers wisely worked to make sure that the parade became the kind of event that would aptly represent Hellenes and as such had to work out the kinks in getting there.
Now let’s put all of our tremendous Greek energy into making it even better and even bluer next year!
Filia!
(P.S. I will be posting additional pictures on my blog soon if you are interested.)
April 24th, 2007 at 11:19 am
under the olive tree — yes, please send us a link to your blog.
April 26th, 2007 at 8:52 am
and i had souvlaki there, so it made for a great day ;D Missed out on seeing Anna Vissi, did you see her there? But did get to be surrounded by tons of greek cuties
April 26th, 2007 at 6:08 pm
No, I didn’t see Anna Vissi. I think I was sitting in the wrong spot ’cause I didn’t see any of the celebrities like I did last year.
April 26th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
The parade was fun but the damn cops towed/lost my car!
April 28th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Cyprus-born pop star… wouldn’t that make her from turkey?