Staten Island Advance featured The Day of the Dead celebration by Tevah Platt.
Mexican community marks Day of the Dead
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Cromwell Center was vividly alive yesterday as hundreds celebrated the Day of the Dead, the traditional Mexican event known in Spanish as Dia de los Muertos.
Altars set up in the Tompkinsville gym were laden with typical offerings for the deceased — traditional breads, skull-shaped candies, skeletal clay sculptures and bright marigolds.
“At home we have a smaller version of this altar, set up with little candles and pictures of the grandparents,” said Mario Centeno of Rosebank, who explained the significance of the offerings to his children, aged 6 and 7. “On the altar we put things the person used to like when they were alive — like bread, beer or tequila or their favorite drink — because we believe they come back that night to do the things they enjoyed in their waking life.”