The 251st staging of the St Patrick’s Day parade in New York took place under sunny skies and in unseasonably warm temperatures, attracting huge crowds to midtown Manhattan. The parade route, up Fifth Avenue from 44th Street to 79th Street, was swamped with green-clad spectators taking advantage of the holiday falling on a Saturday. The Fighting 69th Brigade continued the tradition of leading the parade, and this year’s grand marshal was Francis X Comerford, an executive with NBC Television.
This year’s parade was dedicated to commemorating war veterans. Among those honoured was US Navy Seal Lt Michael Murphy from Long Island, New York, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005 and received a posthumous Medal of Honor for bravery.
The parade does not permit floats, but features marchers from Irish-American groups, the NYPD, the city’s fire department and the military.
It was not all shamrocks and smiles for the Irish in New York, though. The parade committee continues to ban gay and lesbian groups, and supporters planned protests along the route. Christine Quinn, speaker of the city council, who is gay, reportedly boycotted the event.