NEW YORK — The New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade has been postponed for the first time in its 258-year history because of coronavirus concerns, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday.
The postponement of the parade on March 17 adds to the roster of events and holidays upended around the world by the spreading infection. The New York parade honoring Irish heritage dates back longer than the United States and draws tens of thousands of marchers and throngs of spectators to Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.
NEW: New York Gov. Cuomo announces St. Patrick's Day Parade and Celebration Committee has agreed to postpone annual St. Patrick's Day Parade in Manhattan. https://t.co/srklHAEvuB pic.twitter.com/fqzENRGrQR
— ABC News (@ABC) March 12, 2020
Cuomo, a Democrat, said while the risk of transmission might be lower in an outdoor gathering, health experts had urged him to call it off.
St. Patrick’s Day parades in some other big cities, including Chicago, Boston and even the Irish capital of Dublin, were called off earlier.
New York City officials had held off, saying they weren’t certain that a large outdoor event — as opposed to a more intimate setting — posed enough of a risk of spreading the virus to warrant cancellation. But officials had noted that they would keep weighing the question as more information developed.
