ST. PAT’S RAINBOW
Gay Irish pol leads march through city
IRELAND’S GAY prime minister led the green-clad revelers at the 257th St. Patrick’s Day Parade, marching Saturday along a route where gays and lesbians were long banned.
Politician Leo Varadkar, joined by Gov. Cuomo and followed by another 150,000 marchers, stopped at St. Patrick’s Cathedral to greet Timothy Cardinal Dolan as the parade moved up Fifth Ave.
“A few years ago, remember, no gays were allowed in this parade,” said Cuomo, wearing a white, green and orange sash. “And it’s going to be my pleasure to march with him.”
The first gay organization allowed to march under its own banner appeared in 2015, and this year’s parade included two such groups.
Varadkar, sporting a green scarf and toting an Irish flag, smiled broadly as the crowd greeted him warmly.
The annual event lured hordes of celebrants to the Fifth Ave. parade route, where more than 100 marching bands and an assortment of bagpipers provided a soundtrack for the revelry.
Liz and John Gavin flew in from Dublin to attend their first New York parade, joining a crowd on the corner of 48th St. and Fifth Ave.
“We have a parade in Dublin, but it’s much smaller,” explained Liz, 31, wearing a tiny green top hat. “Most people just end up going to the pub.”
Michaela Toledo, 39, and sister Silvia, in shamrock-shaped sunglasses, came to the parade from Argentina with their mom to mark her 60th birthday.
“I love it!” said Silvia. “I am very happy.”
Cuomo, introducing a bit of politics to the annual day of Irish pride, mentioned the significance of a parade celebrating the nation’s immigrant past.
Between 1850-1929, an estimated 4 million Irish transplants came to the United States.
“We’re all immigrants,” Cuomo declared on a bright, chilly March day. “Unless you’re a native American, you’re an immigrant. And it’s immigrants together.”
Mayor de Blasio walked separately from his Albany frenemy Cuomo, joined instead by NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill.