St. Patrick’s Day. The feast day of the patron saint of Ireland. A day to honor Irish culture and heritage. As an Irishman (sort of, well, Irish last name), this year I decided to check out a few ways that New York City celebrates.

The big one, of course, is the parade. The first march was on March 17, 1762, fourteen years before the Declaration of Independence, and is what organizers claim the “country’s oldest and proudest Irish tradition.” I arrive on Fifth Avenue across from the Metropolitan Museum a little after 11am last Monday. It’s mostly deserted, except for a few police officers on the corners, a young couple with dyed green hair holding each other, and a few other bystanders trying to keep warm. The parade is coming north from downtown, but I have time. I should have stopped for a Guinness (not a sponsor).