This move, part of the mission of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York (esp., Cardinal Spellman and Ivan Illich) represented a shift away from earlier attempts at "Yankeefication" toward culturally specific expressions based on traditional fiestas patronales.

[7] In 2009, organizers selected internationally recognized telenovela actor Osvaldo Ríos, as the parade's "Special Guest Star".

In it, Jerry Seinfeld, George Costanza, Elaine Benes, and Cosmo Kramer get stuck in a traffic jam as a result of the parade.

[12] The 1994, Latin American literary classic Empire of Dreams by Giannina Braschi staged a revolution on the Puerto Rican Day Parade.

[13] The parade has been referenced on the Tru TV show Impractical Jokers within multiple episodes, satirically introduced as a joke about castmember Sal Vulcano's heritage, which is Cuban, but often mistaken for Mexican or Puerto Rican.

In June 2010, controversy arose after organizers selected telenovela actor Osvaldo Ríos, who served three months in a Puerto Rican prison in 2004 for assaulting his former girlfriend after a domestic-violence incident as the parade's "International Godfather".

After mounting pressure from both the media, politicians, public officials, and domestic violence organizations, Rios decided to not attend the parade after discussing the matter with his children and U.S. Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez.

On June 10, 2011, Leguizamo's father, Albert, declared in an interview published in El Diario La Prensa, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in New York, that he was not Puerto Rican - but rather, of Colombian ancestry.

[20][21] As a result of López Rivera being selected, parade sponsors Goya Foods,[22] JetBlue,[23] Coca-Cola,[23] AT&T,[22] and the New York Yankees[24] dropped their sponsorship.

[33] Following the parade on June 11, 2000, a number of women were harassed, robbed and sexually assaulted by mobs of young men in and about Central Park.