A four-block stretch of Union Avenue in New Rochelle is home to a thriving Hispanic American community that’s now dealing with the cancellation of an annual event.
Taste of Union Avenue, a summer celebration of Hispanic culture and community, has been canceled in New Rochelle, CBS News reports.
CBS News New York has learned the decision was made in June as United States Immigration, Customs and Enforcement operations in parts of the country made headlines and raised anxiety.
In a statement, New Rochelle City Manager Wilfredo Melendez said: “After careful consideration, Union Avenue will not be part of New Rochelle’s ‘Taste of’ series this year – a decision made to ensure our public events remain safe, welcoming, and successful for all. We’re developing an alternate way to celebrate and support the area’s vibrant restaurants and small businesses, and will share more soon.”
There is some discussion at City Hall about trying to hold Taste of Union in September.
An ICE spokesperson told CBS News New York:
“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not indiscriminately conduct enforcement actions on random people at public events, nor do we target U.S. citizens for the purpose of civil immigration enforcement. ICE conducts targeted enforcement actions that are based on intelligence driven leads focused on aliens identified for arrest and removal from the United States.”“People are very scared to come out”
“Taste of Union brings this community back up to our feet. It really helps the store vendors around here, it helps a lot,” business owner David Zamora said.
Zamora had a booth last year and was planning another for this year’s event, originally scheduled for July 26.
“We were planning big things for this year, but hey, things went the other way,” he said.
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Polly Kreisman founded and began publishing theLoop in 2007. She is a 15-time Emmy Award winning former television reporter and actress and lives in Larchmont.
They are arresting anyone that is brown, and the fact that they were only going to arrest criminals has been an outright lie. Many many Americans have been deported based upon the color of their skin or their accent, and it is absolutely disgusting. They are not criminals. Again, Trump is trying to pass the buck off onto someone else.