J'Ouvert 2017: Parade Route, Start Time, Security And Everything Else To Know

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — This year's annual J'Ouvert celebration in Crown Heights is just hours away, and regular revelers are going to find a lot of changes to the festivities tomorrow – including a strict parade route, enhanced security and, most significantly, a time change.

J'Ouvert, which means "day break," marks the start of the Caribbean carnival celebrations and precedes the unrelated and more well-known West Indian American Day Parade. (You can read all about this year's parade here.)

J'Ouvert traditionally started in the middle of the night, with singing, dancing and splashing bright colors of paint, mud and oil on celebrants. The festivities would continue around 4 a.m. with a parade down Flatbush Avenue.

The celebration, though, was notorious for its deadly violence. Perpetrators would use the dead of night and chaos of the celebration to fire weapons, often fatally. Last year, two people were shot and killed and, in 2015, an aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo was killed duringthe festivities.

In an effort to avert future violence Mayor Bill de Blasio said security this year would be akin to "Times Square on New Year's Eve."

Here's what you need to know about J'Ouvert this year.

When will J'Ouvert take place?

The festivities are being pushed back to start at 6 a.m. on Labor Day, Sept. 4. Officials hope the later start time, when the sun will just be beginning to rise, will deter the violence.

Where will J'Ouvert take place?

The parade will start at Grand Army Plaza, travel south on Flatbush Avenue, head east on Empire Boulevard, then turn south on Nostrand Avenue until Midwood Street.

What kind of security will be in place?

The NYPD will close the parade route listed above beginning the night before and conduct a sweep of the entire area between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. Hundreds of additional officers are being deployed to the area and security checkpoints will be set up at 12 entry points to the parade route.

The checkpoints will include extra floodlights and high-resolution security cameras to deter crime. Large bags, alcohol and weapons will be prohibited inside the parade area.

"It’s a lot of police presence, it’s a whole new set of controls in place like we have in Times Square on New Year’s Eve," de Blasio told reporters when the new policy was announced.

Will there be changes in MTA service?

Yes. The MTA has put together this helpful guide for the day's activities. These subway changes will be in effect:

• Trains operate on a Sunday schedule.
• No 2 or 3 service in Brooklyn – take 4 or 5.
• Eastern Parkway station will be closed from noon to 7 p.m.
• At Crown Heights-Utica Avenue 4 station, customers can exit only through Schenectady Avenue end and enter only at Utica Avenue.

Again, check the MTA's website before you go.

(Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images)