St. Patrick's Day festivities were in full swing Monday with the usual merriment of bagpipes and beer, but political tensions lingered in the northeastern U.S., where city leaders were conspicuously absent from parades over gay rights issues.

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio became the first mayor in decades to sit out the traditional march because parade organizers refuse to let participants carry pro-gay signs.

Still, thousands of green-clad spectators came out for the parade to watch bagpipers. (AP)

Photography by Gordon Donovan

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