Hoboken Public Safety Director Bill Bergin made several highly publicized statements last week encouraging the city to cancel the annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which has become a draw for young people across the state to come to Hoboken that Saturday and drink in bars or attend house parties.
Last week, it seemed that everyone had an opinion on whether the parade should be canceled, moved to a weekday to lessen the party atmosphere, or left as is so that city businesses can continue receiving the enormous revenue from that day.
Police wrote 411 summonses for city ordinance violations (with fines of up to $1,000); made at least five arrests, ticketed 12 drivers for moving violations, issued 143 parking tickets besides those issued by the Parking Utility, and impounded 32 vehicles.
But what do the parade organizers think?
Parade committee co-chairman Bill Noonan said on Friday that he expects the parade to continue next year, but is willing to listen to concerns about how to make it a better event.
“I understand Director Bergin’s concern of a riot,” Noonan said. “This is an opportunity for us to listen to concerns.”
“The men and women [of the Police Department] worked hard that day.” – Robert Lisa
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“It wasn’t like we lost control of the city,” Lisa said last week. “The men and women [of the Police Department] worked hard that day.”
Committee will convene again in two weeks
An emergency City Council Quality of Life Committee meeting was called on Tuesday, and a joint press release was issued from the committee on Wednesday.
The statement said committee members and city officials discussed and will investigate several issues.
According to the committee chairwoman, Councilwoman Beth Mason, the group will reconvene in two weeks to hopefully complete a report to use for planning next year.
Traditionally, Hoboken has held its parade two or three weeks before St. Patrick’s Day because that way, they do not have to compete with other towns’ parades to get the best bands. However, that means that the event is one of the few exciting party destinations on that day. Residents of Hoboken often hold house parties to entertain friends from New York City and elsewhere in New Jersey.
Last week, some tavern owners reported doubling their usual weekend sales. Lisa estimated, without citing hard statistics, that “80 per cent” of the crowd visiting Hoboken on Saturday was from out of town.
Proposals
The ideas under consideration by the committee include a proposal to change the day of the week of the parade; creating or amending local legislation to restrict partying on rooftops, balconies, and fire escapes; increasing fines, which are already at $1,000 for most offenses; and improving communication and coordination among the various public safety agencies.
The city had 120 officers on the streets during the parade, Lisa said. NJ Transit, the Port Authority, and the Hudson County Sheriff’s Department sent a total of 26 officers to assist during the day. Scattered across several shifts, 84 Hoboken police officers worked overtime.
80 injuries
Public injury statistics are still being sorted, but they were reportedly around 80. Bergin said last weekend that most of the injuries involved facial traumas either from fist fights or drunken people falling down.
However, one injury was serious enough to necessitate a transfer to a Newark trauma center, Bergin said.
No televisions were tossed out of windows, as was reported early last week, Lisa said.
Aside from a couple of assault charges, no violent crimes were reported.
Lisa said police received 71 complaint calls for rooftop parties and another 23 for fire escape and balcony issues.
Lisa said he is still finishing his post-incident report that the city will use to plan for next year’s parade, but that an increase in parade-goers is probable, if not definite.
Lisa said that there were several minor arrests in addition to the five arrests reported, but that each arrest takes a police officer off the streets for half an hour or more. He said being on the street keeping peace is the most important responsibility of the police.
Councilwoman Theresa Castellano, who closed up City Discount, her store on Washington Street, for the parade, said in the aforementioned committee release, “Being host to time-honored traditions such as this is important for a community. Every city should have the ability to host a variety of fairs and cultural celebrations without endangering the public and personal property.”
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.