New York

MTA Announces Subway, Bus and Rail Service Changes for St. Patrick's Day Parade

Alcohol is banned on Metro-North and LIRR trains; railroads will operate extra trains

What to Know

  • Live coverage of the parade begins Saturday, March 16 at 11 a.m. online and on air
  • It's the 258th St. Patrick's Day parade in the city
  • The parade kicks off on 44th Street near St. Patrick's Cathedral and marches up Fifth Avenue to 79th Street

New York City's annual St. Patrick's Day Parade is this Saturday, March 16, and the MTA wants to remind you alcohol is banned on Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North trains. But both railroads will offer extra trains!

NBC 4 New York will be streaming the entire parade online; the first three hours will be broadcast live on News 4.

Subway and bus services will also be in effect. Here's what you need to know:

New York City Transit (11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday)

  • Some subway entrances at the 5 Av-59 St station will be closed to prevent crowding. Select exits and entrances at the 77th Street 6 station may be designated as entry/exit only, on both uptown and downtown platforms.

  • L trains will not run between Brooklyn & Manhattan because of ongoing work. As an alternative, special weekend M trains will provide additional service into Manhattan and will operate between Metropolitan Av and 47-50 Sts, then via the F line between 47-50 Sts and Lexington Av/63 St, and via the Q line between Lexington Av/63 St and 96 St. 

  • As a reminder, some subway lines do not run on weekends: there will be no or express service. B trains will not run, and customers are reminded to use the J instead of the Z. Check the Weekender app for details.

  • The following NYC Transit and MTA bus routes operating in and around the parade route will be affected by reroutes, detours, and frozen zones: M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M31, M50, M55, M57, M66, M72, M79 SBS, M86, SIM1c, SIM3c, SIM4c, SIM33c, X27, X28, BM1, BM2, BM3, BM4, BM5, BxM2, BxM3, BxM4, BxM6, BxM7, BxM8, BxM9, BxM10, BxM11, Q32, QM2, QM4, QM5, QM6, and QM15. Customers using bus routes in the five boroughs can also use MTA Bus Time to track real-time bus positions and gauge arrival times.

Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad

  • The LIRR will operate 38 additional trains to/from Penn Station. On Saturday morning, this includes six extra trains departing Babylon between 8:30 a.m. and 11:15 a.m., seven extra trains departing Ronkonkoma between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m., two extra trains from Huntington between 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., and two extra trains from Great Neck between 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

  • Metro-North is prepared to operate 18 additional trains to/from Grand Central to accommodate increased ridership to the parade on Saturday. On Saturday morning, this includes: five upper Hudson Line trains focusing on Poughkeepsie, New Hamburg and Beacon; two extra trains on the Harlem Line, one from Southeast and one from North White Plains; two extra trains will operate on the New Haven Line, one from New Haven, and one from Stamford. Additional service will also operate for West of Hudson customers, where one extra inbound train and one extra outbound train will run on the Port Jervis Line. Cars will be added to all regularly scheduled Port Jervis Line and Pascack Valley Line trains.

  • Departure times for all trains are available via the MYmta app for iOS and Android and at new.mta.info. For details on Metro-North’s timetables, click here
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