Don’t run to your local CVS and get a box of peeps to decorate a hat for Easter Sunday. Don’t grab that glue gun and cover a bonnet in jellybeans. And don’t think the only way to have fun on Easter Sunday is by wearing a skyscraper stuck on your head.

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Do join the festivities on Fifth Avenue come Easter Sunday, with your best new outfit, and your best smile. Easter Sunday on Fifth Avenue in New York City is not to be missed. If you want to get into St. Pat’s early for a mass, by all means, go for it before 10 a.m. After that it’s with tickets and reservations only, so the early bird gets the worm in this case. Outside, on The Avenue, as the famous song calls it, the hordes gather. Because at 10:30 a.m., The Avenue is shut down to vehicular traffic, and it becomes a pedestrian Mall, all the way up to Central Park. Who would want to miss that?

Yes, there are The City Chicks, with their yearly themed headgear. Yes, there are the walking Empire St. Buildings, the human carrots, the plastic Easter eggs everywhere. This is New York City on an Easter Sunday, and the sky is literally the limit. Just like in the movie, “Easter Parade”, with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland strolling up The Avenue, thousands come to see and be seen. The silly, the nonsensical, the ridiculous, and in the last few years, even the glamorous wearing fabulous headgear can be seen. The New York Times is there, with Mr. Bill Cunningham snapping away at The Milliners Guild. The international press is there, with video cameras in tow. Every local news channel is there, and you may even get interviewed, if you’re in the right place at the right time.

The right place is anywhere on Fifth Avenue, from 50th on up to The Plaza. The right time is anytime after 8 a.m., with the densest crowds happening after 11 a.m.. By 1 p.m. the entire section of New York City long known for its glorious architecture, the spires of St. Pat’s and the highest end shopping in the world is packed like a sardine can. It’s a photographer’s dream, and a child’s fantasy.

If you act fast and make a reservation in one of the many local restaurants, you can prolong the joy of the experience by having brunch while you’re uptown. Top off the morning with a carriage ride around Central Park, and celebrate a glorious Easter Sunday in New York!

And if you see me, say hello!  I’ll be in a hat, of course!

St. Patrick’s Cathedral
460 Madison Ave. (bet. E. 50th and E. 51st Sts.)
Manhattan, NY 10022
subway: E to 5th Ave./53rd St.; 6 to 51st St.; B, D, F to 47th–50th Sts./Rockefeller Center | bus: M1, M2, M2L, M27, M50 to Madison Ave. and E. 50th St.