3. Woodside hosts an inclusive St. Patrick’s Day Parade
Every year, a parade called St. Pat’s for All starts at Skillman Avenue and 43rd Street and ends at 58th Street and Woodside Avenue. The parade was created in response to the banning of LGBTQ+ people from the Manhattan St. Patrick’s Day Parade and was first held in 2000. According to their website, St. Pat’s for All is the first in over 260 years of Irish parades in New York City to be open to all who wish to celebrate, drawing on themes from the 1916 Easter Proclamation of the Irish Republic.
The parade was created by Brendan Fay, a community activist and filmmaker who was born and raised in Ireland before moving to Astoria. He produced the “Silence to Speech” documentary series about being Irish and LGBTQ in America. The parade is supported by organizations including the New York Irish Center and the Irish Arts Center. Former Mayor Bill de Blasio, former Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Senator Charles Schumer, and Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Carolyn Maloney spoke at the 2020 iteration of the parade.