Amid the cheering crowds, blaring music and billowing flags at the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, a quiet drama unfolded, not visible in any activity along the route.
For the first time in 35 years, Ramon S. Velez, who helped build the parade into both a cultural institution and a lucrative commercial enterprise, did not march. A float broadcasting his voice traveled the route instead.
Without formal notice, a page had turned in the history of the South Bronx, and of the Puerto Rican presence in New York.
