With 80,000 marchers and 2 million onlookers, the event is one of the country's biggest ethnic celebrations.
In the run-up to the parade, rows of street vendors have lined up north of the parade route, in New York's East Harlem neighborhood, also known as Spanish Harlem for the wave of Puerto Ricans that settled here after World War II.
These days, this neighborhood is where Gerardo Cruz can help you gear up before the parade.
"I got straw hats, souvenirs, necklaces, headbands — you name it!" says Cruz, as he shows off his tables of merchandise, all embazoned with the words "Puerto Rico" or the colors of the island's flag — red, white and blue.
