Irish New York

St. Patrick's Day Parade (Pixabay)

"Patrick's Day in New York is second only to Christmas or Thanksgiving; how on earth did this come to be? Why are the Irish allowed to paint the streets in tricolour and dye the Hudson green? Other nationalities enjoy no such indulgence. What is it with the Irish? Is it that the first Irish immigrants hugely influenced the city's culture or is it simply the Irish knack for throwing a party?"
Damien Enright, A Place Near Heaven

Saint Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day Parade

"Saint Patrick's Day in New York is the most fantastic affair, and in past years on Fifth Avenue, from Forty-fourth Street to Ninety- sixth Street, the white traffic lines were repainted green for the occasion. All the would-be Irish, has-been Irish and never-been Irish, seem to appear true-blue Irish overnight. Everyone is in on the act, but it is a very jolly occasion and I have never experienced anything like it anywhere else in the world."
Brendan Behan, Brendan Behan's New York