Labor Day Weekend, a long weekend including the first Monday in September, is a U.S. national holiday that honors workers and the labor movement. It’s also the popular end of summer.
Things To Do in NYC on Labor Day Weekend 2024
Latin Mondays NYC by Talia Castro-Pozo, One of New York’s Most Popular Latin Dance Parties, is Now at Fifth&Mad in Murray Hill
5th&Mad, Murray Hill, Manhattan 🇨🇴 🇨🇺 🇩🇴 🇵🇦 🇵🇪 🇵🇷 🇻🇪
Labor Day Parade NYC 2025
FIFTH AVENUE, Midtown, Manhattan
J’ouvert NYC 2024 is New York Carnival’s Daybreak Party and J’ouvert Parade
CROWN HEIGHTS & PROSPECT PARK, Brooklyn 🇹🇹
New York Carnival Panorama is a Battle of the Pans
BROOKLYN MUSEUM, Prospect Park, Brooklyn 🇹🇹
Met Expert Talks en Español ~ Met Experto Charlas en Español : La magia de los colorantes naturales en la Edad Media
MET CLOISTERS, Fort Tryon Park, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Manhattan ~ La magia de los colorantes naturales en la Edad Media
Boukman Eksperyans Plays Haitian Vodou Rock Reggae After the West Indian Day Parade
THE BROOKLYN MIRAGE AT AVANT GARDNER, East Williamsburg, Brooklyn 🇭🇹
New York Junior Carnival Parade 2024 Youth Fest is a Fun Teaching Moment
BROOKLYN MUSEUM, Crown Heights, Brooklyn 🇹🇹
New York Carnival SocaFest is a Battle of the Soca Bands
BROOKLYN MUSEUM, Prospect Park, Brooklyn 🇹🇹
West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn on Labor Day Celebrates Evolution as the Climax of New York Carnival
EASTERN PARKWAY, Crown Heights, Brooklyn 🇹🇹 + 🇩🇲 🇬🇩 🇯🇲 🇳🇬 🇰🇳 🇻🇨
US Open 2024 Tennis Grand Slam is the Place to See and Be Seen at the End of Summer
USTA BILLIE JEAN KING NATIONAL TENNIS CENTER, Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens 🇺🇸 🇦🇷 🇧🇴 🇧🇷 🇨🇱 🇨🇳 🇨🇴 🇩🇴 🇪🇨 🇪🇬 🇫🇷 🇭🇰 🇮🇳 🇮🇹 🇯🇵 🇯🇴 🇱🇧 🇲🇽 🇵🇪 🇵🇭 🇵🇹 🇷🇴 🇪🇸 🇺🇾
José Alberto “El Canario” Plays the New York International Salsa Congress
MARRIOTT MARQUIS, Times Square Theater District, Manhattan 🇩🇴
New York International Salsa Congress is NYC’s Labor Day Weekend Salsa and Bachata Dance Festival
NEW YORK MARRIOTT MARQUIS, Times Square Theater District, and offsite venues in Manhattan 🇦🇷 🇨🇴 🇩🇴 🇪🇨 🇨🇦 🇮🇹 🇲🇽 🇵🇷 🇪🇸
New York Carnival Celebrates Freedom Trinidadian and West Indian Style
BROOKLYN MUSEUM, Prospect Park, Brooklyn
EASTERN AVENUE, Crown Heights, Brooklyn
🇹🇹 + 🇩🇲 🇬🇩 🇯🇲 🇳🇬 🇰🇳 🇻🇨
Central Park Tango is a Good Place to Fall in Love
SHAKESPEARE STATUE, Central Park, Manhattan 🇦🇷 🇺🇾
Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra is One of New York’s Busiest Latin Jazz Big Bands
THE TOWN HALL, Midtown Manhattan, Blue Note Jazz Festival 🇨🇺 🇧🇷
BIRDLAND, Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan 🇨🇺
Salsa Sundays at Orchard Beach 2024 is a Hot Summer Salsa Dance Party
ORCHARD BEACH, Pelham Bay Park, The Bronx 🇵🇷
El Destino Milonga is Popular with New York’s Best Tango Dancers
SOLAS, East Village, Manhattan 🇦🇷 🇺🇾
International Workers’ Day
Most countries celebrate International Workers’ Day on May 1.
We don’t because the U.S. government didn’t want our celebration associated with the Haymarket riot in Chicago on May 4, 1886. And since the Russian Revolution of 1917, May 1 has been downplayed to avoid any association with that.
So we celebrate Labor Day in September.
Organized Labor is Important
Modern history is a struggle between owners and workers. Things go bad when either becomes too strong.
When the owners are too strong, they take too much of the wealth created by workers. Most of the wealth created during the last business cycle (2008-2020) has benefited the investor class. It’s why financial journalists are now writing about a “K” shaped recovery with the investor class benefiting and the worker class continuing to lose ground.
It’s a bad situation because civilization becomes unstable and collapses when the gap between rich and poor gets too wide.
When workers are too strong, we end up with silly work rules like we had in the 1970s. That doesn’t work in a globalized world. There will always be someone somewhere who will do the job for less, and never say, “that’s not my job.”
We need to find a balance. Economies stagnate when wealth is distributed unequally.
Henry Ford, the founder of Ford Motors understood that. Realizing that his own workers couldn’t afford his cars, he increased wages and guess what happened? He sold more cars and made more money.
Fairer wealth distribution benefits everyone. That’s why we need to protect and support the Labor Movement now.
Labor Day Began in New York City
The first Labor Day celebration was a Labor Day Parade organized by the Central Labor Union in Union Square on September 5, 1882.
This famous photograph was a public relations picture taken during the construction of Rockefeller Center. The round dome at the bottom left is New York City Center on 55th St. Central Park is visible above the workers’ on the right.