HOBOKEN — Another year, another canceled (or at least postponed) Hoboken St. Patrick’s Parade.
Hoboken has not had a St. Patrick’s Parade since 2011. The increasingly popular event was held every year for 25 years on the first Saturday in March, to get the best marching bands ahead of St. Patrick’s Day. Residents threw house parties that same day, thirsty patrons crowded the bars starting early in the morning, and young people came from throughout the Northeast to party.
But in 2012, Mayor Dawn Zimmer said the reveling had gone too far and caused too many public safety problems. She floated the idea of holding the parade on a Wednesday. The St. Patrick’s Parade Committee, which is independent of City Hall, said no. The two groups have not compromised, and since then, no parade has been held.
Last week, one parade organizer hung up the phone when the Reporter called to find out if there were any talks of holding a parade this year. Another organizer failed to return phone calls.
Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s spokesman, Juan Melli, said he had not heard anything about the parade this year.
By now, there was usually some word of a fundraiser.
In the absence of the parade, independent business people have held events like “Leprecon,” a bar crawl, on the first Saturday in March. The city also plans an Irish festival each year.
According to its website, the Leprecon Bar Crawl will be held this year on March 7, 2015.
It looks like for now, the parade itself has become a victim of Hoboken’s popularity, gentrification, and the times. Will it return? Perhaps all is not lost. Stay tuned!
(Got comments? Leave below or email the Hoboken Reporter at editorial@hudsonreporter.com)
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