St. Patrick’s Day features the wearing of the green up Fifth Ave. (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Who: More than 150,000 marchers and two million spectators
What: 254th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Where: Fifth Ave. from 44th to 79th Sts.
When: Tuesday, March 17, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm
Why: Grand Marshal H.E. Timothy Cardinal Dolan will lead the 254th annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade up Fifth Ave. on Tuesday, March 17, joined by more than 150 bands, military and political dignitaries, and a tribute to the Fighting 69th, but not Mayor Bill de Blasio, who is once again boycotting because he believes the parade is still not inclusive enough of gays; he did march in the St. Pat’s for All parade March 1 in Queens, which featured grand marshals Kerry Kennedy and Brían F. O’Byrne. H.E. Dolan’s participation has been met with controversy from the other side, because this year the parade is allowing some gays to march in the parade with their own banner. “I haven’t been in this much hot water since I made the comment, right after I arrived as your archbishop five-and-a-half years ago, that Stan Musial — my boyhood hero of my hometown St. Louis Cardinals — was a much better ballplayer than Joe DiMaggio!” the archbishop writes on the Archdiocese of New York website. “Catholic teaching is clear: ‘being Gay’ is not a sin, nor contrary to God’s revealed morals. Homosexual actions are — as are any sexual relations outside of the lifelong, faithful, loving, lifegiving bond of a man and woman in marriage — a moral teaching grounded in the Bible, reflected in nature, and faithfully taught by the Church. So, while actions are immoral, identity is not! In fact, as the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us, people with same-sex attraction are God’s children, deserving dignity and respect, never to be treated with discrimination or injustice.” As always, if you dare stop by any of the myriad Irish pubs in Midtown, you’re liable to experience a pipe and drum corps or two making their way around the many tables filled with lovely pints of Guinness.