PARADE ROUTE
The Parade starts at 44th Street at 11:00 am and is held every March 17th, except when March 17th falls on a Sunday, it is celebrated the day before, Saturday the 16th due to religious observances.
The parade marches up Fifth Avenue past St. Patrick's Cathedral at 50th Street all the way to 79th street.
TRANSIT
Normal weekday service on the City's subways is the best way to navigate to and from the parade route and the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad will operate special service to help those traveling to the parade on Thursday, March 17.
Customers are advised not to bring any alcoholic beverages, open or closed, on trains, platforms and stations through 4 AM on March 18. Alcoholic beverages will be confiscated by the MTA Police. Metro-North and LIRR bar carts will not be in operation.
St. Patrick's Day service includes:
New York City Subway
All subway lines and the Staten Island Railway will operate on regular weekday schedules.
Buses in New York City
The St. Patrick's Day Parade will run along Fifth Avenue from 44th Street to 79th Street. Fifteen local bus routes and 11 express bus routes will be temporarily re-routed due to street closures, but will still provide service: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M27, M50, M30, M31, M57, M66, M72, M79, M86, X1, X10, X17, BxM2, BxM4, BxM6, BxM7, BxM7A, BxM9, BxM10, BxM11 and Q32.
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road will provide eighteen extra trains, nine westbound and nine eastbound, for those traveling to and from the parade, supplementing the regular weekday schedule. The extra trains will operate on the Babylon, Far Rockaway, Port Jefferson, Port Washington and Ronkonkoma Branches.
Metro-North Railroad
The Fifth Avenue parade route is an easy walk from Grand Central Terminal and Metro-North will run three extra New York City-bound trains on the Hudson Line and two on the Harlem Line, supplementing the regular weekday schedules. In addition, Metro-North will add extra cars to trains on the Harlem and Hudson Lines in anticipation of increased ridership.
Bridges and Tunnels
There are no changes to normal weekday operations at MTA Bridges and Tunnels.
BEST VIEWING SPOTS
To avoid the crowds that pack the sidewalks below 59th Street, go anywhere North of 66th Street and Fifth Avenue.
