The Puerto Rican 

Parade Responds

Note: After the news broke in Sunday's New York Post in an article by Gerson Borrero that the NYS Attorney General would soon be announcing a major shake-up of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade as a result of a 7-month investigation of its finances and management, the Parade's President, Madelyn Lugo, issued the statement below in response. Borrero's breaking of the news of the results of this controversial investigation has generated much concern in the Puerto Rican community locally and in Puerto Rico about the future of the Parade. It is expected that his report is putting pressure on the Attorney General to release its findings sooner than they planned, given that whatever changes they are calling for will put the new leadership of the Parade under an extremely tight timeframe for planning this year's Parade that is scheduled for early June.

---Angelo Falc�n

CONTENTS

* "Statement by Madelyn Lugo, President, NPRDP," National uerto Rican Day Parade (February 3, 2014)

* "Schneiderman Set to Oust Puerto Rican Day Parade Board" By Gerson Borrero, New York Post (February 2, 2014)

Statement by 

Madelyn Lugo, President, NPRDP

National uerto Rican Day Parade (February 3, 2014)

We cannot comment because the State Attorney General's Office is still conducting its process.  Our organization continues to fully cooperate with the Attorney General, and I stand by previous statements that no Board Member at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, Inc. has committed any wrongdoing with sponsor deals and conflicts of interests.  The National Puerto Rican Day Parade, Inc. is not for profit organization registered with the State of New York, and therefore the State Attorney General is fully entitled to ensure that its assets are protected.  We look forward to continuing to cooperate with the AG during the entire process, and we are ready to implement any mandates that might result from it.

No further statements will be issued until the AG's Office has announced the results of its investigation.

Schneiderman Set to Oust 

Puerto Rican Day Parade Board

By Gerson Borrero

New York Post (February 2, 2014)

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is poised to clean house at the embattled Bronx nonprofit behind the Puerto Rican Day �Parade, The Post has learned.

The expected ouster of some or all of the six-member board at National Puerto Rican Day Parade Inc. would come after a seven-month probe of the event by the AG's Charities Bureau.

The group has been under scrutiny for a sponsor deal and allegations of conflicts of interest.

The board had licensed the use of the parade's logo on commemorative cans of Coors Light, with proceeds to go to a scholarship fund. But the deal ignited a furor, with some saying the pairing of beer with the city's largest parade sent the wrong message, especially since last year's theme was "celebrating your health."

Investigators targeted the deal in a strongly worded letter addressed to group President Madelyn Lugo last May, sources said.

The group also came under fire when board member Luis Rivera, who is married to Lugo, worked as a paid consultant for GALOS Corp., which acts as a for-profit marketing firm for the parade. The nonprofit paid GALOS $103,108, according to 2012 tax filings.

The parade is funded solely by sponsorships and donations. In 2012 it had revenues of $461,363 but spent $620,546.

Carlos Velasquez, its business and marketing agent, may also lose his job, sources told The Post. He heads negotiations with sponsors. He also owns a marketing firm that handles the Dominican and Hispanic day parades.

"Carlos has already begun to steer business away from the parade and into other events he peddles," said a source close to Velasquez.

Board members, Velasquez and the AG refused to comment.