Scenes from the 44th Annual West Indian Labor Day Parade

Brooklyn's annual West Indian Labor Day Parade, now in its 44th year, is the ultimate street party, with a crowd estimated at several million(!) revelers that makes it one of the biggest events in New York.The parade represents Caribbean nations, all of whom have heavy populations here, including Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Grenada, and Haiti. The main attraction is the colorful, sparkly (and skimpy) costumes, the Soca, Calypso and Reggae music that blasts from parade trucks through the streets, and the dirty dancing that ensues from the combination of the two. Culinary delights such as Calaloo and Goat Head Soup are available at practically every corner, and the city's liquor laws tend to go out the window, with lots of illegal vendors hawking items such as mini bottles of Ciroc and nutcrackers (those little unmarked plastic bottles of heavily alcoholic fruit punch ). Although the police presence is huge, the cops always have their hands full with far more serious issues than street-drinking -- this year three people were murdered and two officers were shot, unfortunately also a common feature of these festivities.  Here, PAPERMAG gets some up close and personal shots of the participants.