HOBOKEN — Hoboken police will be out in force this Saturday, March 7. Each year, young people come to the mile-square city on the first Saturday in March to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day early. Hoboken’s longstanding St. Patrick’s Day Parade used to be held that day, but was cancelled by its organizers in 2012 after the city pushed to move the event mid-week to cut down on the debauchery that often accompanied it. As a result, independent bar crawls (called “LepreCon” and other names) began, and the traditional house parties continued, sometimes starting as early as 9 a.m.
This year, independent organizers are running the “Hoboken St. Patrick’s Day Celebration,” an Irish-themed excuse to wear green and quaff ale at 22 different Hoboken bars.
This week, the city of Hoboken began publicizing its zero tolerance policy towards drinking-related crimes during the event through electronic billboards and flyers distributed at local drinking establishments, according to city spokesman Juan Melli.
The policy is not new, and entails the full deployment of all Hoboken police officers on the day of the pub crawl, along with mutual aid detachments from the Port Authority police, NJ Transit police, Stevens Institute of Technology police, and the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office Rapid Deployment Force, according to Melli.
The city is reminding revelers that a conviction for public possession of an open container, public urination, public intoxication, disturbing the peace, and keeping a disorderly house could result in a $2,000 fine, 90 days of community service, or even 90 days in jail.
Hoboken will have ‘zero tolerance’ during St. Patrick’s pub crawl 2015
