For the first time in two years, New York City's St. Patrick' Day Parade was held in full, marking an important milestone for the city as it continues to recover from the impacts of COVID-19.
In March 2020, the parade — which had been held since 1762 — was one of the first events to be canceled as a result of the burgeoning pandemic. In 2021, a smaller and mostly virtual event was held in place of the real thing.
But with coronavirus transmission numbers at record lows, the 2022 parade marked a reopening of sorts for the city, especially for places hit hard by the pandemic. Chief among those places: bars and restaurants.
Around 40 Irish pubs in NYC closed for good amid the pandemic, industry experts estimate. Those that were able to survive will be celebrating Thursday afternoon (and likely well into the evening), as the city is expecting large crowds to come in to celebrate, both along the parade route and throughout the five boroughs. Those businesses are aiming for a big boost come Thursday.
"The city is alive. We are back. Hopefully only going toward," said Maureen Donohue-Peters, of Donohue's Steakhouse. The venerable Upper East Side bar and restaurant, open since 1950, weathered the COVID storm by embracing outside dining while dealing with city protocols and crowd capacity. But that wasn't after having to sacrifice everything they prepared for a feast two years ago.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox. Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
"We lost 300 pounds of corned beef. Twenty ponds of lamb stew. Shepherds pie. Everything," the restaurant's owner said.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams echoed the reopening message while in lower Manhattan on Wednesday.
"It means so much to all of us to see this parade return," Adams said.
With 200 groups and 105 marching bands, organizers said this year would be the country's biggest celebration since COVID. NYPD will have an additional presence along the parade route, with barriers and officers stationed throughout, though there are no current credible threats.
NJ Transit said that full regular weekday service will be operating on all trains, buses and light rail systems for those heading to and from NYC, and noted that eating and drinking on board is prohibited. A ban on consuming alcohol has gone into effect for St. Patrick's Day on Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road trains through Friday morning.
As for the parade itself, its route runs along Fifth Avenue from East 44th Street up to East 79th Street, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Below are the streets along the parade route and nearby that would be fully closed to vehicular traffic. Detours will be in place starting at 10:30 a.m., and no crosstown traffic will be allowed from 43rd Street to 84th Street.
Formation:
- Vanderbilt Avenue between 43rd Street and 46th Street
- 43rd Street between Vanderbilt Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 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 42nd Street
Dispersal:
- 5th Avenue between 86th 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
- 84th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue
Miscellaneous:
- 49th Street between Madison Avenue and Rockefeller Plaza
- 50th Street between Madison Avenue and Rockefeller Plaza
- 51st Street between Madison Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 53rd Street between Madison Avenue and 6th Avenue
- 58th 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
- Madison Avenue between 42nd Street and 86th Street
