A day of honoring Italian culture and heritage brought many of New York’s top politicians to Fifth Avenue — including Governor Spitzer and Attorney General Cuomo, who chatted in public for the first time since a Democratic Party meeting in Garden City, L.I., last week at which they did not acknowledge each other.

Enjoying the unseasonably warm weather, tens of thousands lined Fifth Avenue to celebrate all things Italian — including Maseratis, Vespas, and the Grand Marshal, Manhattan restaurateur Lidia Bastianich, who hosts the Food Network’s Italian cooking show “Lidia’s Italy” — during the 63rd annual Columbus Day Parade, which stretched nearly two miles along the avenue.

“Today, we’re all Italian,” a beaming Senator Schumer said in Italian, and then repeated in English.

“It’s a wonderful day for a parade,” Mayor Bloomberg said.

The day also gives a chance for Italians who live in New York to reminisce about their homeland. Remigio Raicovich, 70, moved to New York from Venice in 1956 and has attended the parade for the last 40 years. Watching from the corner of 61st Street and Fifth Avenue, his white miniature poodle, Chloe, sat patiently at his feet with three leis — red, white, and green — draped around her neck. “I love New York, but I occasionally miss Italy,” he said. Being at the parade “feels like being home.”

For Paul Nisco, 41, the day provided the chance to bring his three young children to a parade he attended when he was their age. Mr. Nisco said his parents, who immigrated to America from Italy before he was born, attended his first parade when he was 10 years old. Today, Mr. Nisco, who took a vacation day in order to attend, donned a bright red Ferrari sweater in honor of the Italian car company’s 200th Formula 1 victory, at the Shanghai Grand Prix on Sunday, and lined up at noon with his family.

“We woke up today and said, ‘Let’s go to the parade,’ ” Mr. Nisco said. “Hopefully, it’s something they’ll remember.”