A slow go for block party entrants as festivities heat up

The crowd waiting to get into the block party in lower Manhattan has grown tremendously in the past hour as festivities ramp up.

Police are allowing people to enter after they have been screened with a metal detector wand, but the process is slow and it's going to take awhile. 

Jose Ortiz, aka Doctor Drum, 67, from the Bronx, is warming up the crowds as he and a couple of friends play pandeiro, or handheld drums, with friends.

"What we're doing here — it may seem like we're entertaining people, but we're not," Ortiz said. "What you're listening to is the soul of the island, Puerto Rico. With our pandeiro, we get to express our voice. We get to talk about our differences. We get to talk about the good and the bad, whatever that is. And today, we're using it to celebrate the inauguration."

By Lorena Mongelli

lorena.mongelli@newsday.com,michael.okeeffe@newsday.com

Lorena Mongelli has been reporting for Newsday since 2021. Prior to that, she covered breaking news at the New York Post.