New York City’s Labor Day revelry will have a new noise this year as the Police Department plans to deploy the remote-controlled, camera-equipped aircraft to monitor large gatherings — even backyard parties — connected to West Indian American Day celebrations in Brooklyn. The plan was announced at a briefing on Thursday in Brooklyn ahead of J’Ouvert and the West Indian American Day Parade, events that honor the region’s diaspora — New York is home to over 600,000 residents of non-Hispanic Caribbean descent. The celebrations commemorate emancipation, but have been the setting of violence in years past, with shootings marring previous events. Both events are set to take place Monday, with J’Ouvert, a predawn carnival procession, kicking off the celebrations at around 6 a.m. in Crown Heights. Efforts to reach the West Indian American Day Carnival Association on Friday morning were unsuccessful.

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Organizations: York, Labor, Police Department, West Indian, Association Locations: Brooklyn, J’Ouvert, New York, Crown Heights