Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958 or Deirdra L. Picou (212) 788-2971
Joining the Mayor were Council Member Una Clarke, Publisher of Everybody's Magazine/President of the Calypso and Soca Monarch Competition Herman Hall, the Ambassadors of Barbados and Trinidad/Tobago, Caribbean representatives and sixteen monarch contestants.
"The Caribbean influences and contributions that can be seen throughout the five boroughs reaffirm that the West Indian community has taken its place among our City's great immigrant populations" said Mayor Giuliani. "From the carnival celebrations in the late winter, to the 29th annual West Indian Parade, which we celebrated just a couple of weeks ago, the West Indian Community has shared its wonderful culture and traditions with our City."
On Sunday, September 22, 1996, the sixteen contestants, the world's best calypso artists from Germany to Barbados, will compete for the World Calypso Monarch and World Soca Monarch. The event, sponsored by the Caribbean-American Everybody's Magazine, will be held at the Whitman Theatre, Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College.
Since the 1930s and 1940's when Calypso first made its way from its birth place in Trinidad and Tobago to America, New York City has been home to the greatest calypso artists, as well as the majority of the calypso recording industry.