Well, my new job puts me in Rockefeller Center each day, which is a stone's throw from 5th Avenue, so on my way to grab lunch today, I stopped by the St. Patrick's Day Parade.

This was probably my first St. Patrick's Day Parade. I say "probably" because I deal with the participants of the parade every year (the mostly drunk, exceedingly green-clad people who clog the streets, drink too much, and laugh incessantly for no apparent reason. One year, there were a bunch of drunk revelers on the train in to the city (that would be roughly 7AM - gotta admire that kind of dedication), but I'm honestly not sure if I ever actually saw the parade itself.

So here's the report: Meh.

Marching bands, cheerleader squads with batons and flags, a few Irish flags - your typical parade stuff. The spectators were extremely well behaved (at 12PM - must be a record). In fact, I didn't see anyone who I'd categorically declare drunk.

The most interesting thing at the corner of 51st and 5th (that's right by St. Patrick's Cathedral) was the New York Police Department. They had the side street divided into three lanes with wooden police barriers. The far right lane was for people who wanted to cross 5th Avenue eastbound, the far left lane was for people crossing westbound, and the middle lane was for people who wanted to approach 5th Ave and watch the parade. It was extremely well organized and was working like a charm. Every time there was a break in parade traffic, they let a clump of people on each side of 5th Avenue cross, then cut the line off when the next float came by - optimizing street-crossing without disrupting parade traffic at all. Yet another well done, thankless job by the NYPD.

I'll probably have more to report after I attempt my commute home - after all, today is St. Patrick's Day, Day 2 of the NCAA Tournament, and Friday. Lots of reasons to party tonight - I have to believe there will be more interesting things to report by nightfall...