Memorial Day Weekend Parades & Observances

Memorial Day observances are scheduled across New York City and Long Island on Monday, May 25, with neighborhood parades, wreath-laying ceremonies and cemetery visits planned from Bay Ridge to Patchogue. Brooklyn’s 159th Memorial Day Parade is set to step off at 11 a.m. from 78th Street and Third Avenue and continue to John Paul Jones Park for a memorial service, according to parade organizers and Time Out. Queens, Staten Island and several Long Island villages also have Monday events on their calendars, while Five Borough Veterans is holding an inaugural Memorial Day Walk on Sunday in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said its national cemeteries will host public Memorial Day commemorations this weekend and remain open to visitors. ### Where are the biggest city parades set to take place? Brooklyn’s 159th Memorial Day Parade will begin at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 25, at Third Avenue and 78th Street in Bay Ridge, then proceed along Third Avenue, Marine Avenue and Fourth Avenue to John Paul Jones Park, where organizers say the memorial service will include bagpipes, a flag raising, wreath laying, a 21-gun salute by the Veteran Corps of Artillery and Taps. Time Out said the Bay Ridge march is one of the city’s main Memorial Day parades. (brooklynmemorialdayparade.com) The 107th Staten Island Memorial Day Parade is scheduled for noon on Monday, according to CBS New York, which also reported that Hart Boulevard and parts of Forest Avenue will be closed for the event. In Queens, CBS New York listed the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade for 2 p.m. Monday, the Ridgewood Memorial Day Parade for 11 a.m. Monday and a Rockaway Beach Memorial Day Parade on Monday as well. (brooklynmemorialdayparade.com) ### What is happening in Queens and Brooklyn before Monday? Five Borough Veterans will host its first Memorial Day Walk on Sunday, beginning at 12:30 p.m. at Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn, CBS New York reported. The route will cross the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan and stop at the Brooklyn War Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza, the Coast Guard Memorial, the East Coast Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum. (cbsnews.com) Sunday events in Queens include the Forest Hills Memorial Day Parade and the College Point Memorial Day Parade, CBS New York said. The station reported that city officials announced street closures around both events. ### Which Long Island communities have posted Monday ceremonies? Patchogue Village said its annual Memorial Day Parade and Ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. on Monday, May 25, on East Main Street and South Ocean Avenue, with the ceremony on the grounds of the American Legion on South Ocean Avenue. (cbsnews.com) The Farmingdale Chamber of Commerce said Farmingdale’s annual Memorial Day Parade will begin at 10 a.m. Monday on Main Street and end at Village Hall, followed by a ceremony on the Village Green with Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 516, VFW Auxiliary Post 516 and the American Legion. (cbsnews.com) The chamber said the event will proceed rain or shine. (patchoguevillage.gov) ### What about cemetery observances? The National Cemetery Administration said public Memorial Day commemoration ceremonies are being held at 131 VA national cemeteries this weekend and advised visitors to confirm details because times can change because of weather or other circumstances. The agency also said all 157 VA national cemeteries and 35 soldiers’ lots will be open throughout Memorial Day weekend, May 22-25. (farmingdalenychamber.org) Long Island National Cemetery in East Farmingdale is open on Memorial Day from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the cemetery’s VA page. Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn is closed on federal holidays except Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and Calverton National Cemetery in Suffolk County is open daily from sunrise to sunset, according to the VA. ### Where can people check for more local listings? Time Out’s Memorial Day weekend guide said New Yorkers can find parades and other holiday events in its weekend roundup, which lists the Brooklyn parade and the Little Neck-Douglaston parade among the city’s main observances. (cem.va.gov) Local municipal and chamber calendars, including Patchogue and Farmingdale, have also posted Monday start times and routes. (cem.va.gov) Monday, May 25, is Memorial Day in the United States, and most of the region’s listed observances are scheduled for that date. Organizers for Brooklyn, Little Neck-Douglaston and Farmingdale said their events will go forward on Monday, while the VA said visitors should check cemetery information in case weather changes ceremony plans. (brooklynmemorialdayparade.com) (timeout.com)