This year’s parade features 76 Mitzvah Tanks, a powerful display symbolizing 76 years of the Rebbe’s nesius, and an opportunity to spread the joy and message of Pesach and Yud Alef Nissan to people from all walks of life.

While Yud Alef Nissan falls on Sunday this year, the parade was strategically held on Thursday to maximize its reach. With millions of people commuting into New York City on a typical workday, the bustling streets of Manhattan offered the Tankistim far greater opportunity to connect with Yidden throughout the city.

Longtime Crown Heights residents and visitors alike gathered on the service lane outside 770 to see off the tanks and the dedicated bochurim as they headed out. The parade then continued to Grand Army Plaza and through the streets of Brooklyn, before dividing up and crossing all three bridges into Manhattan.

Once there, the tanks split up to 76 designated locations where bochurim and children distributed thousands of shmurah matzos, put tefillin on with hundreds of men, handed out Shabbos candles, and spread the Rebbe’s message to countless Jews and non-Jews.

First introduced by the Rebbe in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, the Mitzvah Tanks continue to be on the front lines today, conquering the city not with weapons of war, but with the light of Torah and mitzvos, ahead of the Rebbe’s 124th birthday.