The Official Green Line Guide to St Paddy's Day 2011 NYC

In just about 48 hours, bottles of Guinness, shots of Jameson and Irish Car bombs will rain relentlessly. Saint Patrick's Day, the most underrated drinking day of the calender year, is this Thursday. You can debate all you want but there is no better place in America to be than New York City. You think I'm biased, New York City was the first American city to host a St. Paddy's parade (1762). See here at the G.L. we only rep our city if we deserve the accolades (and it just turns out that usually we do). Without further delay, The Official Green Line Guide to St. Paddy's 2011.

Weather: High's of 57 Mostly Sunny
After weeks in the 30's-40's Saint Patrick is bringing us some sunshine. Morning temperatures will be in the low 50's and should climb to almost 60 by high-noon. The moderate temperature combined with the high levels of intoxication in your body basically means cold weather will not be an issue this Thursday.

The Parade:
With all the bar crawling and rowdiness on the streets its pretty common to forget there is a parade. But for those interested or drunk enough to try and hop in (it's very do-able but don't blame the GL if you get arrested) the parade starts at 11 AM on 44th street and ends on 88th street around 3 PM. The best viewing spots are on the upper east side around 83rd-86th. The crowd gets real crazy around Columbus Circle (59th), viewing is nearly impossible.

Green Line St Paddy's Day Bar Selection:

Connolly's Pub and Restaurant (43 West 54th Street) Opens 7 AM


Pretty much every Irish Pub you land at will be fucking crazy. So we decided to highlight a real traditional Irish Pub. Connolly's is as authentic Irish as it comes. Located right near midtown, Connolly's is a family run pub that takes St. Patricks day pretty fucking serious. Connolly's also features lives music, two bands will be playing starting in the AM, Jamesons Revenge and Shilelagh Law. Special Green Line shout-out to Terrance Brennan of Shilelagh Law. These guys refer to their genre as real 'Bare-Knuckle Irish Music'. SL plays first on The Today Show and should arrive at the bar around noon. Connolly's will be popping all day and is sure to be loaded with St Paddys day veterans young and old.


Other GL tips

• Paper bag or no paper bag if you get caught with an open container your getting a ticket. Good News, it's only $25, you can pay it online. Most cops can't even leave their post so if you think a cop spots you just merge into a crowd.
• If your coming in on the Metro North the schedule is slightly different. There are more outgoing and incoming trains but the times may vary. You can check the Metro North Website by clicking here.
  
• Avoid any online Bar Crawl deals. St Paddy's New York is one giant bar crawl, and you may go in with 12 friends you know and wake up in a room with complete strangers. Bar Crawl deals are rip-offs and part of the NYC experience is being spontaneous with your decisions (especially Thursday)
• Simply Rage. We'll be posting pics and videos of the NYC craziness on Friday. If you have to miss class, miss work, miss your first child's birth whatever to make it to NYC you will not regret it.