For Puerto Ricans, a Parade of Doubts Eric Thayer for The New York Times The Puerto Rican Day Parade has grown into a star-studded televised extravaganza in the heart of Manhattan, with 80,000 marchers and 2 million spectators. In the 1950s, before they became a prominent part of New York City's tapestry, Puerto Ricans often found themselves unwelcome as they tried to carve out a place for themselves: sometimes beaten by their neighbors, given the lowest-paying jobs and even at times disenfranchised from voting by English-only literacy tests. So, in 1958, Puerto Rican leaders decided to hold a modest parade where they could march arm in arm with pride through the heart of Manhattan. Fathers would teach their sons and daughters about their roots by pointing to floats dedicated to Puerto Rican towns known for coffee beans, bananas or sugar cane. Mothers would tap their feet to the African-inspired drum music that brought back memories of growing up on the island. More than a half-century later, the parade has grown into a star-studded televised extravaganza, with 80,000 marchers, 2 million spectators and a fleet of corporate sponsors. This Sunday, Chita Rivera will be the grand marshal helping to lead the parade down Fifth Avenue. But even as the National Puerto Rican Day Parade has become one of the nation's largest and best-known ethnic celebrations, its organizers have come under scrutiny over how they manage the event and what they do with the money it generates, some of which is supposed to finance scholarships for children of Puerto Rican heritage. More broadly, many Puerto Ricans complain that the parade has become an embarrassing spectacle that encourages bad behavior, gives their culture a bad name and is as much a marketing opportunity for big corporations as it is a celebration of what they have achieved. "It hurts me in my heart when I see this parade," said Ildefonso Rivera, 57, a carpenter who as a boy used to wait by the curb with his father to watch the floats roll by. I don't see the floats with our culture. I see the floats for Coors. Today, it's just one big commercial. Such criticisms came to a head in recent days when elected officials and activists protested a commemorative Coors Light beer can for the parade that included the Puerto Rican flag and a modified version of the parade's logo, saying it insulted Puerto Ricans and sent the wrong message when the theme this year was meant to celebrate health. But though distribution of the offending can was halted, the furor escalated the tensions between many Puerto Rican leaders and elected officials and the parade's organizer, National Puerto Rican Day Parade Inc., a nonprofit organization overseen by a volunteer board of directors. Despite highly visible sponsorships by MillerCoors, Goya Foods and others, the parade and its related activities, including a gala banquet and a pageant, have operated at a loss every year since at least 2005, according to tax filings. The parade's organization reported that it raised a total of about $460,000 in revenues in 2012, but spent over $620,000 on the parade and related activities, leaving a deficit of about $159,000. Eric T. Schneiderman, the state's attorney general, who has legal oversight of nonprofit organizations, is investigating the parade's financial dealings, including its relationship with MillerCoors and his office has raised questions about how organizers are protecting the parade's reputation. And elected officials and activists have railed against the parade's leaders for what they call many missteps and a lack of accountability. "They're treating the parade like their own banana republic," said Gerson Borrero, 62, a columnist for El Diario. The last thing on their mind is to instill pride. In fact, they have shamed us. But Madelyn Lugo, chairwoman of the parade since 2006, defended the organization's practices, saying that the criticisms were based on misinformation. As the parade and its activities have grown into a national event, so have expenses, she said. In 2012, expenses included broadcasting costs for the parade ($103,875); insurance ($43,232); sound, music and light ($9,000); and portable toilets ($1,600). Because of erroneous information provided by organizers of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, an earlier version of this article stated that the first parade was held in East Harlem. In fact, the first parade was held on Fifth Avenue between 62nd Street and 96th Street.