New York City might still be getting over the grey dregs of winter, but midtown Manhattan was a field of green as far as the eye could see on Tuesday as the city held its annual St Patrick’s Day parade.
Thousands lined the streets to watch the emerald bacchanal, the largest of its kind the country, march its way up 5th Avenue to the beat of bagpipes and drums. The parade featured high school marching bands, Irish groups, politicians, NYPD regiments in full dress and even a trio of sanitation workers.
A few feet away from the main route, tourists elbowed each other out of the way to find the perfect spot for a selfie. Clusters of shamrock-clad teenagers stood on the sidelines in packs, shrieking and taking hearty swigs from coffee cups that emitted a suspiciously sweet odor if you got close enough.
A costumed spectator who introduced himself as Kevin Leprechaun (and upon further questioning revealed his surname was actually Trew) had traveled from London to see the parade and later planned on “getting very drunk on Jameson”.
“Everyone’s Irish suddenly!” he said, taking in the crowd. And indeed, while the parade drew gawkers of all backgrounds, there were several attendees of Irish background who came to celebrate their heritage.
Thomas Irwin, who came to the US from Ireland 50 years ago and now lives in Maspeth, Queens, had a front-row view of the procession. “It’s nice to be Irish, y’know,” he said. After the parade, he planned to return home and eat corned beef and cabbage, prepared by his wife. “Yes, really!” he confirmed.
Mary Wilkins, the daughter of an Irish immigrant who was there with her brother, niece and nephew, told the Guardian “I don’t have a favorite part. The screaming, the cheering, the drinking, the dressing … I love it”.
Not everyone lining 5th Avenue was there to cheer. The Irish Queers held their annual protest of the parade’s historic exclusion of LGBT Irish groups. More than 50 people stood at 5th Avenue and 57th Street behind a banner that blared “Let Irish Gays Into Irish Parade!”
Irish Queers’ Emmaia Gelman said the parade was “deeply missing” the Irish LGBT community’s support and involvement. While this year’s participation of OUT@NBCUniversal marks the first time in the parade’s 254-year history that an LGBT group could march openly, Irish Queers and others – including New York City mayor Bill de Blasio – have criticized the parade organizers for only allowing a single LGBT group that is affiliated with the parade’s broadcaster, NBC, to march.
Those who couldn’t escape their offices to see Tuesday afternoon’s parade celebrated in their own small way. A few blocks away on Madison Avenue, businessmen punctuated their monochrome suits with verdant ties and the occasional Irish flag lapel pin. A phalanx of cashiers at a Pret a Manger donned leprechaun’s hats and wide smiles.
By 1.15pm, there was already a line to get into the historic McSorley’s Old Ale House in the East Village, famous for its sawdust floors and old-country charm.
Nicole, who gave her last name as “Who Is Calling Off Sick From Work”, had taken a train from New Jersey to Manhattan and sported electric green peacock earrings for the occasion. “We do this every year,” she explained, gesturing at her friend who was on the phone frantically trying to track down a credit card she had just left at a previous bar. “I just go online and I find a pub crawl.”
Inside, McSorley’s was so packed that one could hardly make it inside. Dozens of demi-pints of dark ale littered the bar, arranged like one massive game of beer pong. Revelers sang America the Beautiful and hugged shoulders as they sang.
Jimi (“it’s spelled like Hendrix”) Holzheimer, a barrel-chested 49-year-old New Jersey native, wore a towering green hat in the shape of a pint glass. Visiting McSorley’s with his friends was a St Patrick’s Day tradition for him, he said.
“It is a great day to drink,” he declared. “A good New York City Irish day.”
