NEW YORK, March 17 (UPI) -- New York City's 243rd annual celebration of St. Patrick's Day began in typical fashion Wednesday with a huge parade, but public drinking was banned.
Police Commissioner Ray Kelly had warned police would confiscate any bottles at rail and bus stations, ferry terminals and on public streets, and said plainclothes anti-terror officers would also patrol the parade as it marched up Fifth Avenue.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg was to march with firefighters, police and sanitation workers, the New York Post said.
The six-hour New York parade does not allow floats, automobiles and other commercial displays. Rather, approximately 150,000 people in bands -- and even entire orchestras -- march and wave flags.
Several years ago, Chicago moved its parade to the prior weekend to cut down on public drunkenness in the downtown core when the date falls on a weekday.
