What you should know about this year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in NYC
Photo by James Felder on Flickr
The world’s largest Saint Patrick’s Day Parade is back after two years of pandemic-related disruptions. On March 17, roughly 150,000 people will march up Fifth Avenue for the 260th event honoring St. Patrick and Irish culture in New York City. In March 2020, the city’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade was one of the first major events to be canceled because of Covid. In 2021, the parade was held virtually. This year, the parade, which typically attracts about two million spectators, will return to Manhattan in full force, according to organizers.
One of the very first St. Patrick’s Day parades ever was held in New York City on March 17, 1762, 14 years prior to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
During that first event, Irish soldiers serving in the British army stationed in the colonies marched to honor the Catholic feast day of St. Patrick, their country’s patron saint. By the middle of the 19th-century, with Irish immigrants flocking to New York, the parade became an annual tradition and spread elsewhere in the country.
“We look forward to greeting everyone in 2022 on Fifth Avenue as we celebrate 260 years of marching (since 1762) on the streets of New York honoring the legacy of St. Patrick, our Irish Heritage, and culture,” parade organizers wrote in a post on Facebook last fall.
This year’s parade starts at 11 a.m. at Fifth Avenue and 44th Street and moves north on Fifth Avenue, passing St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and ending at the American Irish Historical Society at 79th Street at 4:30 p.m.
At 12 p.m., the parade will stop and turn south towards Ground Zero to mark the 20th anniversary of September 11 with a moment of silence. Cardinal Dolan will say a prayer on the steps of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, followed by a playing of “Taps” and “Amazing Grace” by members of FDNY, NYPD, and Port Authority Police and 69th regiment.
The following Manhattan streets will be fully closed on Thursday, March 17 at the discretion of the NYPD in Manhattan:
Formation:
- Vanderbilt Avenue between 43rd Street and 46th Street
- 43rd Street between Vanderbilt Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 44th Street between Vanderbilt Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 45th Street between Vanderbilt Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 46th Street between Vanderbilt Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 47th Street between Park Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 48th Street between Park Avenue and 6th Avenue
Route:
- 5th Avenue between 79th Street and 42nd Street
Dispersal:
- 5th Avenue between 86th Street and 79th Street
- 79th Street between Park Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 80th Street between Lexington Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 81st Street between Lexington Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 82nd Street between Lexington Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 83rd Street between Lexington Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 84th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
Miscellaneous:
- 49th Street between Madison Avenue and Rockefeller Plaza
- 50th Street between Madison Avenue and Rockefeller Plaza
- 51st Street between Madison Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 53rd Street between Madison Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 58th Street between Madison Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 62nd Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 63rd Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 64th Street between Park Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 65th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 70th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 71st Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 72nd Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 78th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- Madison Avenue between 42nd Street and 86th Street
In addition to the Fifth Avenue parade, there are additional St. Patrick’s Day parades throughout New York City. While celebrations in the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island have already taken place, other outer-borough St. Patrick’s Day Parades will happen later this month in Brooklyn (Park Slope on March 20, Gerritsen Beach on March 26, and Bay Ridge on March 27) and in Queens (Bayside on March 26).
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