Brooklyn’s Own St. Patrick’s Day Parades Step Off
BROOKLYN — The St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Manhattan on March 17 may be the king of all St. Patrick’s Day parades in the U.S., but Brooklyn has two that, while smaller, feature lots of marching, bagpipes, dancing and Brooklyn attitude.
The first is officially known as the Brooklyn St. Patrick’s Day Parade, but it’s unofficially called the Park Slope St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Everyone familiar with Pete Hamill’s work knows how Brooklyn was an Irish-American stronghold back in the 1940s and ’50s, and much of the community still remains.
That parade will take place on Sunday, March 18. There will be a pre-parade Mass at Holy Name Church at 245 Prospect Park West. Marchers will begin to assemble at Prospect Park West at noon, and the parade will begin to move from 15th Street and Prospect Park West at 1 p.m. The grand marshal is John Ridge, vice president of the New York Irish History Roundtable.