Mayor de Blasio late for St. Patrick's Day mass, does not march in parade

NEW YORK -- Mayor Bill de Blasio sang the praises of Irish favorites like soda bread and corned beef hash at a tony St. Patrick's Day breakfast at Gracie Mansion on Tuesday. He attended the traditional morning Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. He sported a green tie.

But for the second straight year he did not march up Fifth Avenue in the nation's largest St. Patrick's Day parade, a boycott over the parade's lack of acceptance for most gay groups that also drew attention to de Blasio's at times bumpy relationship with New York City's sizeable Irish population.

Irish eyes were decidedly not smiling on de Blasio two weeks ago when he showed up 30 minutes late to a St. Patrick's parade in Queens and was jeered as he only marched a few blocks. His plan to ban horse carriages from the city's streets infuriated some who noted that many drivers are recent Irish immigrants. And many of the rank-and-file police - and NYPD union leaders - who recently clashed with the mayor are of Irish descent.

"There have been rough spots in this journey and whatever he could do to smooth them out would be good," said Brian O'Dwyer, a lawyer and prominent lobbyist for Irish causes. "There's a need for the mayor to reach out."

De Blasio took care on Tuesday to praise the contributions Irish immigrants have made to the United States' largest city.

"This city has a distinct character shaped substantially by an emerald thread that runs through that tapestry of New York," he said in a speech at the Gracie Mansion breakfast, where he honored Irish-American writer Pete Hamill. "They made the city and the nation stronger."

De Blasio, who is of Italian and German ancestry, said that the city was home to 15,000 Irish immigrants and that more than 800,000 New Yorkers were of some Irish descent. But that population has shrunk in recent decades, and as more and more Irish move to the suburbs, other ethnic political groups - including black and Latino groups that compose much of the mayor's political base - have risen in stature.

The horse carriage debate has received outsized media coverage but affects few New Yorkers - but many of those who would be impacted if a ban is put into place are the Irish immigrants, which was a sore subject among many who attended the Gracie Mansion breakfast.

"It's a crusade for him but it's misplaced," said breakfast attendee John Day. "It's something that doesn't hurt people, it doesn't hurt horses, it provides employment, and it's an iconic part of New York."

De Blasio has said the horses are mistreated.

Many Irish leaders were alarmed last year when the mayor appeared to consider canceling the annual Hibernians breakfast. The event was held but, like it was again Tuesday, was much smaller than in previous years. It ran long, however, prompting de Blasio to arrive late to the Mass at St. Patrick's.

After the service, he walked to the subway before the parade stepped off nearby. Parade organizers adjusted a longtime ban on groups carrying a LGBT-themed banner but only slightly; this year, only a delegation from NBCUniversal was permitted to march under such a banner. NBC televises the parade.

De Blasio - the first mayor in 20 years not to march - praised the step but said recently that it "is too small a change to merit a lot of us participating. We would have wanted to see an inclusive parade."

"A lot of people worked very hard to bring the parade committee along to this day," said O'Dwyer. "It was a major step for our community. I am really frankly disappointed he's not marching to recognize them."

But O'Dwyer also praised the mayor for his work on immigration reform, for showing more support for the NYPD and for creating a municipal identification card that has been embraced by recent immigrants as a means to obtain vital city services. He delivered a warm introduction of the mayor at the breakfast and delivered a joking invitation/ultimatum from representatives of Ireland's government that de Blasio follow in the footsteps of previous mayors and visit Ireland before next year's St. Patrick's Day.

De Blasio laughed and nodded his approval. A spokesman for the mayor did not immediately comment on whether de Blasio would schedule a trip.