After heavy rain drenched New York City on Saturday, it was the luck of the Irish on Sunday as the elements had cleared up in time for the 26th annual St. Patrick’s Day parade in Throggs Neck.
The Throggs Neck tradition kicked off at noon at the corner of East Tremont and Lafayette Avenue on March 10. More than 50 marching bands and groups made their way down East Tremont to Harding Avenue and were cheered on by a few thousand spectators, many decked out in shamrock green attire and waving Irish flags.
John and Majella Brady were this year’s grand marshals. The owners of P.J. Brady’s, a local bar and restaurant on 3201 Philip Ave., said it was an honor that the Throggs Neck Benevolent Association chose them as grand marshalls.
“We’re honored and we have friends and family come out for this special day in Throggs Neck, which has been here for 26 years now,” John Brady said.
“It’s great to see so many people from the neighborhood that you know. some people that you haven’t seen in a long time come back for today,” Majella Brady added.
Retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Ron Watson was the event’s emcee. According to Watson, events like the St. Patrick’s Day and Veterans Day Parades keep the “neighborhood strong.”
“When you try to keep the fabric of a neighborhood strong and resilient, it’s important that we have these types of events,” said Watson, who also chairs the Veterans Day Parade committee.
The Irish LGBTQ group Lavender and Green Alliance carried its banner in the parade for the third year. Brendan Fay, who founded the group in 1994, was moved and proud to see the welcome his group received from the crowd.
“Everybody has a story about a cousin, a family member who is transgender or gay,” Fay said.
It wasn’t always the case that an LGBTQ group was welcomed to march in the Throggs Neck St. Patty’s Parade.
In 1999, the Bronx St. Pat’s Parade was the first one to invite an LGBTQ group. However, the organizers buckled under the pressure of religious groups and the Ancient Order of Hibernians of Bronx County, who said they wouldn’t march in the parade alongside Lavender and Alliance, and the invitation was revoked.
The alliance tried to march anyway, and Fay, alongside five others, including then-Council Member Christine Quinn and then-state Sen. Thomas Duane, were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
“I feel like we’re coming back to the place of exclusion, and it is all turned around [judging] by the welcome of the community here,” Fay said. “You know, there’s a good spirit here.”
Taylor Leslie came from Connecticut to celebrate his Irish heritage and culture with his cousins Tom and Jenna Brandenstein.
“I thought it was going to rain, but no rain today, so it turned out great,” Leslie said.
Former New Orleanian Daniel Fink married “a Bronx woman, and that’s why I am here,” he explained. Fink usually marches in the parade but reveled from the sidelines this year.
“It’s really kind of a festive event,” Fink said. “But I will be marching in the big St. Patrick’s Parade with the Fraternal Order of Police.”
Julie Bonsanti grew up in Pelham Bay and attends the parade annually. The “100% Italian” Bronxite said the parade is all about love.
“I don’t care what it’s for, I just like to have fun with people of all cultures and have a good time,” Bonsanti said. “It’s an excuse to celebrate and be together and it doesn’t matter what I am.”
Ali and Jay Bernardi took over the Wicked Wolf Bronx, an Irish/Italian/American bar and restaurant on East Tremont Avenue, one-and-half years ago. They had set up a 100-by-50-foot party tent on the corner of East Tremont Avenue and Gerber Place, where parade revelers continued celebrating their Irish heritage after the parade with live music and six watering holes.
Ali Bernardi hoped to have a repeat of last year when around 1,000 guests joined the festivities throughout the day.
“It’s a beautiful day,” Bernardi said. “It’s a little windy today, but [Saturday] would have been a nightmare.
