St. Patrick's Day Parade brings Irish spirit and celebration to New York City
NEW YORK (WABC) -- St. Patrick's Day, the annual celebration of all things Irish, was marked in cities across the country on Monday with boisterous parades and celebrations and New York City hosts one of the largest and oldest parades in the United States.
School marching bands and traditional Irish pipe and drum ensembles ambled down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue with uniformed delegations from the police and fire departments in New York City, which hosts one of the nation's largest and oldest parades.
As a light morning rain fell, the rolling celebration made its way north past designer shops and St. Patrick's Cathedral, a stunning Neo Gothic landmark that's the seat of the Catholic Archdiocese of New York.
Mayor Eric Adams donned a green cap and scarf and waved an Irish flag while Catholic Archbishop Timothy Dolan greeted marchers wearing a green, white and orange sash -- the national colors of the Emerald Isle.
"It's fantastic to be here," said Ryan Hanlon, vice chairman of the parade's board of directors. "We're getting a little bit of rain at the moment, but as we Irish call it, it's just liquid sunshine."
The New York celebration, now in its 264th year, date to 1762 - 14 years before the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The parade end on the east side of Central Park, about 35 blocks from where it started.
Hundreds of thousands of spectators turned out to watch the 150,000 parade participants march along Fifth Avenue.
Groups from all over the world participated, as well as local first responder groups, high school marching bands and more.
And members of the FDNY held a special flag tribute to honor the 343 members who lost their lives on 9/11 as they marched in unity to remember them.
And this year's Grand Marshal was Michael Benn of Limerick, Ireland - a member of the carpenters union and chairman of the Queens County St. Patrick's Day Parade. He is being celebrated for bringing the parade back to the Rockaways after Superstorm Sandy -- a reminder that the Irish tradition inspires people from all over to come together.
An average of two million people typically fill Fifth Avenue for the annual parade, and while we don't know the official total for Monday, it does appear that the rain didn't deter those eager to enjoy the festivities.
You can learn more about the St. Patrick's Day Parade at www.nycstpatricksparade.org.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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