Smaller crowds at NYC Columbus Day Parade

Manhattan's Columbus Day Parade Monday had thinner crowds than previous years but was no less exciting as a loud, visible show of the city's police force -- motorcycles with sirens blaring -- was at the front of the line.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg waved an Italian flag as he and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly marched behind dozens of the New York Police Department motorcycles and cruisers. As the three-hour parade, in its 67th year, rolled up Fifth Avenue, the spectacle became more festive, with dozens of marching bands and floats awash in the reen, white and red of the Italian flag.

But the crowd of tens of thousands that lined the parade route was smaller than at previous parades. At stretches, the crowd was only one or two people deep. In previous years, the crowd would swell to hundreds of thousands.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, an Italian-American who walked in the parade for several blocks behind the mayor and police commissioner, said the celebration gave spectators the chance to encounter Italians' "love of family, love of community and their love of this country."

"And I think that's an important lesson for New Yorkers today," he added.

Teresa Branca, of Mamaroneck, attended the parade for the first time with her 11-year-old son, Francesco, who draped the banner of the 2002 Italian World Cup soccer team across an iron police barricade, facing the marchers.

The parade is organized by the Columbus Citizens Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose aim is to keep the Italian-American heritage alive. This year's grand marshal was philanthropist Joseph Plumeri, chairman and chief executive of Willis Group Holdings.

The march gave Hani Becker, an Israeli-born Brooklyn resident, an opportunity to get as close to all things Italian as she could -- for now.

"But I want to actually visit Italy," said Becker, who brought her 3-year-old son, Noam. "He loves parades. And I like everything about Italians -- the food, the music, the people."

Early Monday, Archbishop Timothy Dolan celebrated Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. He and his predecessor, Cardinal Edward Egan, then sat on a red carpet in front of the Fifth Avenue cathedral, greeting the passing politicians.