St. Patrick’s Day Parade: route and street closures

The annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade is today, so now is the time to start planning for the big event—or making your plans to avoid the route, if that’s your thing.

The big parade on Fifth Avenue is celebrating its 256th anniversary this year, and you can expect that the festivities will be big: The parade will kick off at 11 a.m., drawing about two million spectators along the route as more than 150,000 marchers make their way up Fifth Avenue from East 44th Street to 79th Street, bypassing the historic—and recently renovated—St. Patrick’s Cathedral and a host of other famous city sites.

Much of Midtown and the Upper East Side, of course, will be affected by the parade route—and you can bet that because it’s on a Friday, the, um, after-parties will be kicking off early, too. (McSorley’s in the East Village is already open; our friends at Eater are live-blogging the shenanigans for the day, should you be curious about what that’s like.)

But expect traffic in Midtown and the surrounding areas to be a nightmare today; the DOT’s list of street closures, in effect from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., is as follows:

5th Avenue between 42nd Street and 86th Street

Madison Avenue between 63rd Street and 64th Street

Madison Ave between 78th Street and 86th Street

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

62nd Street between 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue

63rd Street between 5th Avenue and Madison Avenue

64th Street between Park Avenue and 5th Avenue

72nd Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue

78th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue

79th Street between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue

80th Street between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue

81st Street between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue

82nd Street between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue

83rd Street between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue

84th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue

85th Street between Madison Avenue and 5th Avenue

The official website for the parade has more information on what spectators can and can’t bring, who will be participating, and the like. And whether you’re avoiding the shamrock-clad masses if at all possible, or painting your face green and hoisting a pint already, remember: stay safe out there, folks.

• New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade [Official]
• St. Patty’s for All Parade [Official]