Councilman Eric Ulrich, left, criticized Mayor de Blasio last week after the city leader announced he would not march in the St. Patrick’s Day parade because the event does not allow gay groups to participate.
Mayor de Blasio’s announcement that he will opt out of the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Manhattan this year, citing concerns over gay marchers not being welcome at the event, prompted criticism from Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park).
“Mayor de Blasio’s decision not to march in this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is truly unfortunate and disappointing,” Ulrich said in a prepared statement. “Irish Catholics and all New Yorkers look forward to this event each year as a time to honor the Patron Saint of Ireland and pay tribute to the many contributions Irish Americans have made to our city. For this reason, I am hoping Mayor de Blasio will reconsider his decision and participate in one of New York’s most time honored traditions.”
While the parade has drawn criticism from elected officials in the past, including former Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), mayors have often marched in the event, including former Mayor Bloomberg. De Blasio, as well as current Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan), have shunned the event, citing its tensions with gay and lesbian groups.
Bloomberg will be the first mayor in two decades to not participate in the event; Mayor David Dinkins in 1993 also sidestepped the parade that annually draws hundreds of thousands of people to the procession that marches down Fifth Avenue because of protests following a court battle to ban a group of openly gay Irish-Americans from participating.
“I simply disagree with the organizers of that parade in their exclusion of some individuals in this city,” de Blasio said at a City Hall news conference.
The mayor did say he planned to honor the contributions of Irish-Americans and honor Irish heritage during other events on St. Patrick’s Day, which is March 17.
Alongside Ulrich, Catholic League President William Donohue issued a scathing criticism of the mayor’s announcement. Donohue said in a statement that was “delighted” to not march with a “public official who does not want to be associated with Irish Catholics.”
