The Chinese New Year Parade is one of the biggest spectacles of Chinatown. New York City is home to the highest Chinese-American population of any U.S. city. With an estimated population of 90,000 to 100,000 people, Manhattan's Chinatown is one of the oldest Chinese ethnic enclaves.
The population density in Chinatown is 37% higher than New York and the median age in Chinatown is 13% higher than New York.In Chinatown 76.84% of the population is Asian.
2018 is the "Year of the Dog" according to the Chinese twelve-animal zodiac system. The Dog is the 11th of a dozen zodiac animals in the Chinese calendar.
As one myth has it, the Jade Emperor decided to place animals in the order they arrived at his party. The monkey, rooster and dog were in another country helping a god defeat evil spirits, and afterward they headed to the emperor’s party together. Since they arrived at the same time, the emperor decided to order them based on when they met the other country’s god. The dog became 11th, after the rooster, whose year was 2017.
The Year of the Dog kicked off earlier this month, on February 16, 2018. But the city's big party for Lunar New Year was today, on a rainy Sunday afternoon.