Chris Halloran of hMag artfully summed up yesterday's Lepre-FAIL - have a read.
hMag concluded:
So, how did Hoboken catch this Lepre-affliction in the first place?
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| http://hmag.com/irish-exit-hoboken-leprecon-pub-crawl-falls-flat/ |
hMag concluded:
"Many in Hoboken would like to see the parade return, giving the City a signature event that would draw people to town for all the right reasons, and turn the tide of a nuisance pub crawl back into an occasion that honors and elevates the community. Some Irish-American organizations have endeavored to keep that door open, but the City and the Parade committee seem no closer to compromise today than they were seven years ago."
GA has no idea what those conversations between Hoboken and the Parade committee have been.
But Juan Melli's now-viral Tweet tells a story in numbers: the precipitous drop in summons issued on Hoboken's St. Patrick's parade day/Leprecon from 2010 through yesterday.
But Juan Melli's now-viral Tweet tells a story in numbers: the precipitous drop in summons issued on Hoboken's St. Patrick's parade day/Leprecon from 2010 through yesterday.
So, how did Hoboken catch this Lepre-affliction in the first place?
THE BIRTH OF THE LEPRE-BAR CRAWL
After irreconcilable differences with the City of Hoboken, the Hoboken Parade Committee announced the cancellation of the annual parade. On January 13, 2012, The Jersey Journal reported:
"In a note to Hoboken residents on the website, the committee blames "the city of Hoboken’s inability to protect our spectators, bands and participants" for the decision. "
Social media geniuses instantly picked up the slack; without missing a beat, Lepre-con was born.
Only this alleged "celebration of Irish heritage" was in fact, nothing more than a bar-crawl stripped of all pretense the day was anything but boozing-till-you-drop. The Jersey Journal reported on March 3, 2012
Don't you like when the truth accidentally slips out?
The co-creator of Leprecon admitted the so-called "celebration of Irish heritage" was really to give the finger to City Hall for "taking away the fun." ("Fun" meaning an army of suburban brats and frat boys/girls using the Hoboken taxpayer dime to get wasted, puke, fight, harass residents, force businesses to close, damage private property, piss wherever... )
Well, either the "fun" has been successfully removed, or yesterday was an outlier, Hoboken achieved what was just a dream a few years ago: law and order and peace on Lepre-Day.
So, in a city where Council members relentlessly attack the Mayor and HPD Chief Ken Ferrante, it sure is gratifying to see how a successful partnership between the Mayor, the HPD, the HFD, and many responsible bar owners- has reaped great success for Hoboken residents.
Thank you ALL. So, if calm reigns across the land...
WHEN CAN THE ST. PATRICK PARADE COME BACK?
Note, GA said "when"--not "if." For all of my Hoboken Irish brothers and sisters, GA would love to see our 'Irish Pride' parade return. The question is when.
In my opinion, first Hoboken needs to extricate itself from the "cons" plague. Residents must be assured that the city can celebrate holidays like Christmas and St. Patrick Day in peace and safety without massive bar-crawls. That means proof that yesterday's calm was not an outlier, but a new Hoboken-world order. Take a look at this 2018 Santa Con event promotion:
"Picture thousands of Santa’s running wild through the streets of Hoboken and having access to some of the best bars you can imagine – that’s exactly what you’ll get with this great event."
Um... can't Hoboken get rid of this?
I keep saying it: in order to eradicate our plague of "cons", the City needs to take away the expectation of "fun" and the "running wild through the streets of Hoboken"
That means City Hall, the HPD, the HFD must continue to work with the bar community, to change Hoboken's reputation as a playpen for unruly adult mobs in costumes. We can do it!
Once Hoboken residents know that we can enjoy our St. Patrick's Day parade free from mass-invasion and crime, let's do it.
Only this alleged "celebration of Irish heritage" was in fact, nothing more than a bar-crawl stripped of all pretense the day was anything but boozing-till-you-drop. The Jersey Journal reported on March 3, 2012
The co-creator of Leprecon admitted the so-called "celebration of Irish heritage" was really to give the finger to City Hall for "taking away the fun." ("Fun" meaning an army of suburban brats and frat boys/girls using the Hoboken taxpayer dime to get wasted, puke, fight, harass residents, force businesses to close, damage private property, piss wherever... )
So, in a city where Council members relentlessly attack the Mayor and HPD Chief Ken Ferrante, it sure is gratifying to see how a successful partnership between the Mayor, the HPD, the HFD, and many responsible bar owners- has reaped great success for Hoboken residents.
Thank you ALL. So, if calm reigns across the land...
WHEN CAN THE ST. PATRICK PARADE COME BACK?
Note, GA said "when"--not "if." For all of my Hoboken Irish brothers and sisters, GA would love to see our 'Irish Pride' parade return. The question is when.
In my opinion, first Hoboken needs to extricate itself from the "cons" plague. Residents must be assured that the city can celebrate holidays like Christmas and St. Patrick Day in peace and safety without massive bar-crawls. That means proof that yesterday's calm was not an outlier, but a new Hoboken-world order. Take a look at this 2018 Santa Con event promotion:
"Picture thousands of Santa’s running wild through the streets of Hoboken and having access to some of the best bars you can imagine – that’s exactly what you’ll get with this great event."
 |
| https://pubcrawls.com/events/santa/hoboken/pub-crawl/ |
Um... can't Hoboken get rid of this?
I keep saying it: in order to eradicate our plague of "cons", the City needs to take away the expectation of "fun" and the "running wild through the streets of Hoboken"
That means City Hall, the HPD, the HFD must continue to work with the bar community, to change Hoboken's reputation as a playpen for unruly adult mobs in costumes. We can do it!
Once Hoboken residents know that we can enjoy our St. Patrick's Day parade free from mass-invasion and crime, let's do it.
oh and also perhaps get a Night Mayor like NYC for Nightlife here in Hoboken?
ReplyDeleteHoboken blew it big-time... you'll be missed.
DeleteIf our experience this year is to be used as a basis for bringing back the parade on aa Saturday, the lesson would be that it could be held only if there was an assurance of bad weather.
ReplyDeleteThis whole discussion is nonsense. Why would the City snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?
If what we were really talking about was a celebration of culture (the "committee" would never have cancelled the parade in the first place - they would have held it on a weekday as has always been permitted.
This has always been about the culture of money not the culture of Ireland.
numbers, not what I wrote. I made it clear that "our experience this year " should NOT "be used as a basis for bringing back the parade." And I wouldn't call the notion of bringing back the parade as "nonsense" since many folks here care, would like it back, and somehow other municipalities are able to manage it without the chaos.
DeleteGA I was responding to the HMAG story you linked to.
ReplyDeleteAs for for the "many people want to bring it back" narrative, it's worth noting that even Mike DeFusco and Anthony Romano didn't advocate for bringing the parade back in 2017. That's because even they finally understood that the position was a political loser since other than the hospitality industry, the parade committee itself, and people who wanted to celebrate Irish culture by getting wasted, few people wanted to bring the Saturday parade back. Many more people were happy with Mayor Zimmer's decision to have it held on a weekday or not at all.
It's also worth noting that Dawn replaced the parade with a city sponsored celebration of Irish culture. For some reason the "committee" has boycotted the event leading one to suspect that celebrating Irish culture is not what they are truly about.
DeleteI also think the idea that Hoboken's debauchery was the result of the City's failure to manage properly, which I don't think you meant to imply but did, is palpably untrue.
Hoboken has a year round party and drinking culture and it's hospitality industry makes its money from attracting as many young people as it can from outside Hoboken to come to town and drink too much.
That culture makes Hoboken very different than those other towns that manage to have calm and peaceful parade days. Hoboken a place where thousands of young people come to come to get drunk Friday and Saturday night year round. Does anyone think Hoboken's bars won't market the the first year of a new parade to pack their bars again? That young people won't see it as an opportunity to have house parties?
We are not Belmar in March. We are Belmar in July on steroids.
There's need to fix what ain't broke.
To your parade point - I agree with not having it at all. When I worked in midtown Manhattan I would inevitably try to work from home on 3/17 because weekday parades just meant there was a bigger hassle to commute: Although, FDNY lined up near my office and that was definitely worth the hassle come to think of it ;)
DeleteBut, to numbers' point, I just don't see any value-add in a weeknight parade in Hoboken for St. Paddy's day, and I think that if the majority of residents want the bar crawls to stop, then they needn't bring back a Saturday parade.
However, if there is a majority of residents willing to take up the mantle to bring back the debauchery, and they can get a voting bloc in place, then far be it from me to have an opinion on what the city does in that instance. I'll leave that to the politicians and political gadflies to sort.