Around 100 people gathered in Washington Square Park in Lower Manhattan on Sunday afternoon to celebrate the fall of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, who fled his country after rebel forces stormed the capital earlier in the day.
Syrian expatriates and their supporters beat drums and sang revolutionary songs in Arabic, holding hands and forming circles for the dabke, a dance that is common at celebrations in the Middle East. Some were draped in the flag of the Syrian opposition, with green, white and black stripes and three red stars.
Others chanted anti-Assad slogans and, after reading news reports that Russian and Iranian officials had said that Mr. al-Assad had fled to Russia, joked about going to Moscow to force him to leave there as well. As the celebration continued in the square, people distributed baklava and shawarma.
One attendee, Marcelle Shehwaro, 40, from Aleppo, Syria, said she had been compelled to leave because of her participation in political activism there. While she does not know what to expect, she said, she is cautiously happy.