New York, NY —

It's St Patrick's Day, and in New York City, that means a parade, with participants decked out in kilts, and some in green body paint.

The Ancient Order of Hibernians runs the nation's biggest Irish-American celebration. Not only did the road rise up to meet those marching, but bagpipers and other participants in the 249th annual St. Patrick's Day Parade up Fifth Avenue had the wind at their backs and the sun shining warm upon their faces, as the Irish blessing goes.

The sunny, mild weather brought out hundreds of thousands of Irish and would be Irish, including Chris Richards, who hails from Jamaica. He says there's a lot to enjoy. "You got the military, you got helicopters flying overhead," he says. "I want to see a couple of politicians also. I love it! New York -- it's New York."

Parade participants also included the "Fighting 69th," a New York National Guard unit whose history stretches to the U.S. Civil War, when immigrants made up the so-called "Irish Brigade" of the Union Army. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly served as the parade's Grand Marshall. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. David Paterson attended Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral before the parade kicked off. Politics mixed with the partying as some candidates for office marched too. Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio took part, as did his potential primary opponent, Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy.

Watching along Fifth Avenue, Rosemary Landrigan, from Ridgewood, NJ, remembered her first parade, some seven decades ago: "I was five years old. It was snowing tremendously and my mom had us dressed in silk outfits to match the banner of the Armagh pipe band, which was of St. Patrick's Cathedral. And we were cold but we weren't allowed to mention the fact we were cold. We had the discipline of the Irish heritage."

But not all New Yorkers were at the parade to celebrate. There were protests against the parade policy of keeping out gay groups. Jay Mulligan is with the gay-rights group Irish Queers. He says the Ancient Order of Hibernians is behind the times.

"They're caught in a 1950's version of Ireland that doesn't exist anymore. Ireland has moved on. New York is behind Ireland on this -- queer groups march in the St. Patrick's day parade in Dublin, Cork, and Belfast, the major cities in Ireland."

Irish Queers is pursuing a civil rights lawsuit that would block city police and firefighters from participating in future St. Patrick's Day parades.

"Anybody wants to march in that parade in honor of their heritage and culture, they're more than welcome to do so. There's a wonderful parade here on Fifth Avenue at the end of June and anyone who wants to march on Fifth Avenue for their lifestyle may do so," parade Chairman John Dunleavy said, referring to the annual gay and lesbian day parade.

This year's parade ran from 44th Street to 86th Street, but next year's route will be much shorter. Under a new cost-cutting rule that goes into effect April 1, all parades must shorten their routes by 25 percent and limit the festivities to under five hours.

Find more on St. Patrick's Day on the WNYC News Blog:
See Photos From the 2010 Parade
What the Irish Eat for Breakfast