Bill Bratton Bucks Trend, Will March In St. Patrick's Day Parade
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- While Mayor Bill de Blasio and the City Council are sitting out this year's St. Patrick's Day parade, NYPD Commissioner William Bratton says he will march.
Bratton, who's Irish-American, was asked Thursday if he was planning to march during an unrelated press conference in Manhattan. He simply said "yes'' and did not elaborate.
De Blasio, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Public Advocate Letitia James are among the city's elected officials who are boycotting because of a parade rule prohibiting gay groups from carrying identifying signs. Other groups, such as colleges and civic organizations, can carry such signs.
More than 2 million people are expected to attend the parade, the largest St. Patrick's parade in the nation.
On Tuesday, Mark-Viverito announced the City Council won't have an official presence at the March 17 parade.
"Now if individual council members choose to march individually, they can do that. But we as a City Council will not take an active presence," Mark-Viverito said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced earlier this month that he wouldn't march in the parade. He'll be the first mayor in decades to not take part in the annual march on Fifth Avenue.
"I will be participating in a number of other events to honor the Irish heritage of this city and the contributions of Irish Americans, but I simply disagree with the organizers of that parade in their exclusion of some individuals in this city," he said.
De Blasio also did not march while he was public advocate.
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