The Bayside Saint Patrick’s Day Parade committee and the Bayside Business Association (BBA) announced their decision to cancel the third annual parade over growing coronavirus concerns.
The cancellation follows the Center for Disease Control (CDC) recommendation to cancel or postpone in-person events involving 50 people or more for the next eight weeks in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
“In light of the current situation in our country related to the [coronavirus] and its escalation in recent days, we have decided to cancel the Bayside St. Patrick’s Day Parade march scheduled for Saturday, March 28,” BBA President Ed Probst said in a statement.
“We would like to take the opportunity to thank our sponsors, without whom the parade would still be a fledgling idea. An immense amount of work goes into the event every year, from our golf outing to our dinner dance and many fundraisers in between; all with the goal of making the parade down Bell Boulevard as enjoyable as possible,” said the parade committee on Facebook.
Prior to the parade’s cancellation, organizers said that this year’s event was dedicated to the memory of Phil Brady, an aide to the grand marshal who passed away in October 2019. The committee also recognized the parade’s Grand Marshal Eileen Flannelly Mackell and Aides Tommy Mulvihill, Robert Lynch, Joe Donovan, John Golden, Tom Golden and Father Chris Henue.
“The BBA wants to do our part to practice safe social distancing in an effort to combat this disease. We look forward to restoring normalcy in the near future and seeing you at a future event,” said Probst. “If we’ve learned anything over the past years it’s that our country and particularly New Yorkers are very resilient.”
Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the postponement of the New York Saint Patrick’s Day Parade for the first time in 258 years.
