St. Patrick’s Day Parade postponed amid virus fears

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The Wantagh Chamber of Commerce has postponed its Second Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, as growing concern about the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus prompted N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo to limit crowd sizes in an attempt to curb the spread of the disease.

The parade, originally scheduled for March 22, has been put off until July 19, with the grand marshal’s dinner rescheduled for July 15. This year’s grand marshal is Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder.

The chamber had planned originally to go ahead with the parade, which last year drew more than 50,000 spectators, according to Nassau County Police Department estimates. But as the coronavirus spread, chamber officers began a more measured consideration. When Cuomo declared a state of emergency on March 12, banning all gatherings of 500 people or more, the chamber was left with the choice of canceling or postponing.

“It was really out of our hands,” Powell said. “If it were up to us, I guess we’d still be marching, but we had to do the right thing” by postponing, she said.

Last year’s parade was a success by any standard. “It exceeded our wildest expectations,” Powell said at the time.  Reflecting on the experience last week, Powell said, “It really gave people a chance to see what we can do in Wantagh, to see who we are. It put Wantagh on the map.” She said the chamber had hoped — and still hopes — to build on that success.

She said the postponement was also positive from the standpoint of the grand marshal’s dinner. “It will give us a chance to honor [Ryder] appropriately.”

COVID-19 has been hard on local businesses, she said. “Any service business especially has been affected severely.” With Cuomo’s announcement on Monday that bars and restaurants were to close, business conditions are not likely to get better any time soon.