New York City is preparing to celebrate its Dominican community this weekend as the 44th annual National Dominican Day Parade kicks off Sunday in Midtown Manhattan. This year the honor of grand marshal goes to Dr. Ramon Tallaj, a Dominican American whom Eyewitness News described as a man who has helped millions of New Yorkers get access to health care. The music, dancing, colorful costumes and cultural pride are set to take over 6th Avenue for the celebration.
The man leading the procession is a familiar figure in the city's health care world. Dr. Ramon Tallaj is the chairman of Somos Community Care and this year's parade grand marshal. Born in Santiago, in the Dominican Republic, Tallaj came to New York in the 1990s before going on to build one of the largest community care networks serving the city's immigrant and underserved neighborhoods.
Tallaj's work is rooted in the organization he created a decade ago. He founded Somos in 2015, and according to Eyewitness News the network now provides health care access to more than one million minority and low-income New Yorkers. That reach is a large part of why parade organizers chose him to lead this year's march down 6th Avenue as the community's standard-bearer.
Reflecting on the recognition, Tallaj said he did not see the honor as his alone. "I'm going to take this recognition in the name of all the physicians and dentists who are in this city of New York taking care of so many for so many years in neighborhoods who are poor neighborhoods," he said, framing the tribute as a nod to the doctors working in the city's most underserved areas.
Tallaj will not be the only one honored on Sunday. Salsa singer Jose Alberto will be recognized as this year's parade godfather, and more than a dozen other Dominican Americans will serve as ambassadors and honorees during the celebration. Together they represent a cross-section of a community that organizers say will be impossible to miss as it takes over Midtown Manhattan.
The significance of the moment came through in a taping of the program Tiempo, where anchor Joe Torres asked Tallaj what he expected to feel riding as grand marshal while crowds waved to him. "I have no idea," Tallaj answered, before turning the moment into a call for the community to show up. "All Dominican, all Hispanic, is identity, unity and culture. Therefore, we all need to be there," he said.
The parade is scheduled to kick off at 11 a.m. Sunday, traveling along 6th Avenue from West 37th Street to West 58th Street. Viewers can hear more from the grand marshal Sunday morning on Tiempo, which begins at 11:30 on Channel 7, and can watch the National Dominican Day Parade itself beginning at noon wherever they stream ABC7 New York.