NYC Pride March 2023: NYPD working 'to keep everybody safe'
NEW YORK CITY - The 2023 NYC Pride weekend officially kicked off from Times Square Friday.
Organizers have planned a series of concerts, live performances, and other events across the city all weekend to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and its allies.
Shane Burton, of North Carolina, says "This is such an iconic Pride I think for our whole country. Coming from North Carolina, it's such an honor to be here and see so many people come out."
"We work hand and glove with the NYPD. Day in and day out, they are in Times Square to keep everyone safe," Tom Harris, President of the Times Square Alliance said.
To that end, this year's celebration comes amid a series of anti-gay incidents being investigated by the NYPD Hate Crime Taskforce.
Specifically, the removal and/or destruction of Pride flags on display including flags at Christopher Park inside the Stonewall National Monument in Greenwich Village birthplace of the gay rights movement.
Pride flags ripped down at Stonewall National Monument: 'It's just disappointing'
This is the latest act of vandalism involving pride flags. Park volunteers said flags are often pulled off the railing by partygoers late at night.
Kayln Kitchin of Jersey City says that was part of the reason she took the weekend off.
Kitchin says "for me personally it means a lot to be out this weekend and be present because that's what our ancestors were doing they weren't going anywhere, weren't hiding when the world was hard. They were out there living their lives."
Of course the biggest event is the Pride parade on Sunday. Already well policed, the NYPD says they've beef up security for safety
"We have intelligence and counterterrorism monitoring. I'm glad to report there have been no threats about the parade," Chell said.
Featured
NYC Pride faced with unprecedented rise in anti-LGBTQ laws, rise in hate crimes
According to the Human Rights Campaign, there’s been more legislation passed targeting LGBTQ+ individuals in 2023 than there has been in the past five years combined.