NEW YORK (WABC) — The beloved and longstanding New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade officially kicked off Tuesday morning.
The procession was making its way down Fifth Avenue, bringing bagpipes, marching bands and major street closures to Midtown.
The parade stepped off at Fifth Avenue heading uptown past St. Patrick’s Cathedral and ending at 79th Street.
The 2026 Grand Marshal is Robert James McCann, who serves as the board chair of the Irish Arts Center, working to strengthen cultural and civic ties between Ireland and the U.S.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch marched in the parade, joining more than 150,000 people that participate every year with two million spectators cheering them on.
“I am incredibly appreciative of the privilege to lead a city where Irish Americans have played such a critical role in this city. We know when it comes to the building of this city, the skyscrapers that pierce the clouds, the tunnels that carve through bedrock. So much of that was built by Irish hands. And when we celebrate Irish Americans, we also celebrate the solidarity that they have brought, as well as the people of Ireland have brought to the world,” Mayor Mamdani said.
His presence there was notable.
As a candidate he said he’d skip many parades.
He skipped the installation of Cardinal Hicks as the Archbishop of the New York archdiocese.
Mayor Mamdani sat down with Archbishop Hicks on Monday and said, “It was truly a joy to get a chance to sit with him and celebrate the fact that both of us are beginning our leadership journeys at roughly the same time here in New York City.”
Almost every mayor at some point in their time in office has been booed at this parade.
From what Eyewitness News observed, the mayor was showered with cheers on the parade route.
Food and bathroom access
By order of the NYPD, there are no portable restrooms set up along the Parade route.
There are restaurants and sometimes pushcart food vendors on Sixth Avenue and some of the side streets adjacent to the Parade route.
Transit service information for St. Patrick’s Day
The MTA is going green for the holiday, having replaced some line numbers temporarily with shamrock-themed signage.
Today, customer service agents will hand out stickers while directing paradegoers.
Both the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North are adding trains for increased parade traffic.
Alcohol is banned on both railroads from today until 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Street Closures
New York City Saint Patrick’s Day Parade
The following streets will be closed Tuesday March 17th, 2026, for the New York City Saint Patrick’s Day Parade event at the Discretion of the NYPD in Manhattan:
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 82nd Street and 79th Street
- 79th Street between Park Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 80th Street between Park Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 81st Street between Park Avenue and 5th Avenue
- 82nd Street between Park 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
Parade history
New York City hosts one of the largest and oldest St. Patrick’s Day parades in the United States. The celebration is now in its 265th year, with the first parade dating back to 1762. That’s 14 years before the U.S. Declaration of Independence!
The parade’s first year, 1762, “was a time when the wearing of green was a sign of Irish pride but was banned in Ireland. In that 1762 parade, participants reveled in the freedom to speak Irish, wear green, sing Irish songs and play the pipes to Irish tunes that were meaningful to the Irish immigrants of that time,” parade organizers explained.
Groups from all over the world come to participate, as well as local first responder groups, high school marching bands and more.
You can learn more about the St. Patrick’s Day Parade here.
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