Greek Americans celebrated Greek Independence Day Parade on 5th Avenue NYC

The parade opened with the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, Ambassador of Greece to the United States, George Tsunis, Ambassador of Greece to the United States, Alexandra Papadopoulou, Archbishop Elpidoforos of America, many Elected Officials, the Grand Marshall George Logothetis – CEO of Libra Group, and  Honorary Marshals which included 77WABC Radio’s John Catsimatidis, Ernie Anastos, General Secretary of the Hellenic Parliament, Giorgos Milonakis, Giorgos Dalaras and more.

Greece’s Presidential Guard the EVZONES was flown into New York for the annual tradition of representing the Hellenic Republic at the parade. The entire Greek American communities of the Tri-State areas teamed up to march from 64th to 79th streets demonstrating their Hellenic pride.

The Parade Chairman, Philip Christopher, Parade Co-Chairmen, Nicholas Bardis, Demetris Gonias, Nomiki Kastanas, Demos Siokis, and Parade Executive Director, Georgia Kontzamanis, worked diligently and did an impeccable job organizing the Greek Independence Day Parade that has been a long tradition of the Federation of Hellenic Societies since 1938.The Parade Announcers were Demetris Filios, Avgi Atmatzidou, and Yiannis Stroumbakis.

Many events took place leading up to the parade including April 27^th celebration of Greek Independence Day by the Mayor of New York, Eric Adams, at the historical Mayoral residence, Gracie Mansion. This is a long tradition dating back to the early 80s.

On Friday, April 28^th there was a Doxology service at the historical church of St. Nicholas at the World Trade Center. Immediately following the service, the Evzones marched to Bowling Green, where the Raising Flag ceremony took place.

The “Greek Independence Day Parade Gala” dinner was held on Saturday, April 29th, at the Hilton, which held an awards ceremony honoring the grand Marshal George Logothetis and many other honorees which included Ernie Anastos, john Catsimatides and more.

New Greek TV and ERT World, produced a special broadcast covering the parade interviewing prominent guests and spectators, that will be aired on ERT WORLD this weekend, with Host Yanna Darili and reporter, Melina Chalkia.

The New York City Greek Independence Day Parade is an annual event that celebrates the anniversary of the Greek Declaration of Independence from the Ottoman Empire that declared on March 25, 1821.The parade has been showcasing the Greek heritage, culture and achievements of the Greek-American community throughout the years, and attracts 100s of thousands of spectators.

Annually a theme is representative of issues the Greek Americans are championing in the United States for Greece. This year’s Theme The return of the ancient Greek Sculptures of the Parthenon- known as the Parthenon Marbles or Elgin Marbles, are the statues and Friezes from the Parthenon that have been displayed in the British Museum since 1832, after being controversially stripped from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin, who was a British diplomat at the time and was said to have been sold to him by the Ottomans during their occupation in Greece.