New York City’s historic St. Patrick’s Day Parade marched through Manhattan on Monday as the holiday tradition returned for 2025.
Hundreds of thousands marched up Fifth Avenue and nearly 2 million lined the street to watch what is the oldest and largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the world, according to organizers, the St. Patrick’s Day Foundation.
The parade followed several celebrations across the five boroughs, including Sunday’s parade in Park Slope, Brooklyn and a monumental change to this year’s parade on Staten Island.
The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the city was held in 1762.
When was the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade in 2025?
The 264th annual parade officially stepped off at 11 a.m. on Monday, March 17. The procession last more than five hours as it traveled about 35 blocks up Midtown’s iconic Fifth Avenue
The parade started at 44th Street, passed by St. Patrick’s Cathedral between 50th and 51st streets, and then reached the finish at 79th Street on the East Side of Central Park.
Organizers said spectators could line up anywhere along the route, but the best views went to the early birds.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch were among the first wave of marchers, followed by the FDNY and Commissioner Robert Tucker later in the morning. They were joined by law enforcement, faith leaders and marching bands from across the area.
New York City’s historic St. Patrick’s Day Parade is set to march through Manhattan for the 2025 celebration. CBS News New York
The event draws approximately two million spectators and 150,000 participants every year.
This year, some came from New Jersey, others traveled all the way from Scotland.
“Fantastic to be here supporting my Irish compadres. Just really, really excited. First time and really happy,” said a man named Al, from Scotland.
“We came out from Colorado. I have a friend who is marching in the fire department,” said Profirio Salazar.
“We’ve been here – snowing, raining, all kinds of stuff, doesn’t stop us. We come every year, we love it,” said Robert Bucaro, of Wallington, New Jersey.
“We try to do it every year. We haven’t come since before COVID, so it’s really, really special,” said Nuala Guildea, from Queens.
NYC street closures for St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Whether you were heading to the parade or just trying to get around, the NYPD warned the following streets would be closed Monday:
Formation:
- Vanderbilt Avenue between 43rd Street and 46th Street
- 44th Street between Vanderbilt Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 45th Street between Vanderbilt Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 46th Street between Vanderbilt Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 47th Street between Park Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 48th Street between Park Avenue and 6th Avenue
Route:
- 5th Avenue between 79th Street and 43rd Street
Dispersal:
- 5th Avenue between 84th Street and 79th Street
- 79th Street between Park Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 80th Street between Lexington Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 81st Street between Lexington Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 82nd Street between Lexington Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 83rd Street between Lexington Avenue and 5th Avenue
Miscellaneous:
- 43rd Street between Vanderbilt Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 49th Street between Madison Avenue and Rockefeller Plaza
- 50th Street between Madison Avenue and Rockefeller Plaza
- 51st Street between Madison Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 54th Street between Madison Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 57th Street between Madison Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 59th Street between Madison Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 62nd Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 63rd Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 64th Street between Park Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 65th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 70th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 71st Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 72nd Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 78th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 84th Street between Park Avenue and 5th Avenue
- Madison Avenue between 42nd Street and 84th Street
For more information from parade organizers, CLICK HERE.
Irish enclave Pearl River enjoying a week of celebrations
The bars and restaurants are full of pride in the village of Pearl River, a noted Irish-American enclave. It’s a little corner of Dublin in Rockland County.
Gildea’s Bar & Restaurant can’t even count how many pints of Guinness, and servings of potatoes and cabbage will be dished out this week.
However, the owners have calculated the corned beef.
“We do close to 500 pounds of corned beef from St. Patrick’s Day straight through to the parade,” Tara Gildea said.
Irish pride is everywhere in Pearl River. The Census Bureau says half of the village’s 15,000 residents trace their heritage to the emerald isle.
The famous Pearl River St. Patrick’s Day Parade will be held on Sunday, which means this year the village has six days to celebrate its patron saint and all things Irish. The parade is the second-biggest in New York, behind the parade held Monday on Fifth Avenue. It steps off Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
“Community, family, being together, just having a good time,” said Wendy Egan, a native of Ireland.
“It’s a lot of fun! Always a great time,” another person said.
“Great day, great heritage. Everybody loves it and comes out to celebrate,’ Ireland native Celine Black added.
Pearl River is so Irish, even Joe and Joe, the village’s acclaimed Italian restaurant, serves corned beef and cabbage this week, with Beverly and Maureen Furey bearing a gift to complete the Irish menu.
“Last time we were here, they didn’t have any Irish soda bread. So I told them this year I was bringing my own,” Maureen said.
It will undoubtedly be a week of Irish cheer in Pearl River.
Tony Aiello, Zinnia Maldonado and Adi Guajardo contributed to this report.
Renee AndersonRenee Anderson is a digital producer at CBS New York, where she covers breaking news and other local stories. Before joining the team in 2016, Renee worked at WMUR-TV.
