Could this be South Boston’s last St. Patrick’s Day Parade? Residents ‘hope not’

Threats to move the St. Patrick’s Day Parade — a 124-year-old South Boston tradition — to downtown Boston have ruffled feathers among residents and business owners.

“I hope that doesn’t happen,” said Ronak Patel, a South Boston resident, told MassLive on Wednesday.

“A lot of people are connected to this, and a lot of people who live here enjoy and want the parade,” he said.

But according to Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn, this Sunday could mark South Boston’s last St. Patrick’s Day celebration.

The day after last year’s parade, Flynn called for “major changes” after he said attendees were completely “out-of-control” and had “anything goes” attitudes. This included public urination and alcohol consumption, unsafe parties on rooftops and cans thrown at parade marchers.

A video of an assault two blocks from the parade at Medal Park also went viral last year, involving four people who kicked another person down the park’s slope and into a metal fence.

To help mitigate problems for Parade Day 2025, Flynn and about 20 elected officials met monthly over the past year, which met for a final meeting on Wednesday night. They created strategies like the earlier 11:30 a.m. start time, and a crackdown at liquor stores and on MBTA lines for underage drinking.

As usual on Sunday, alcohol service will stop by 7 p.m. at Southie bars and restaurants, and liquor stores will close by 4 p.m., Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox said at a parade safety meeting Wednesday morning. He was joined by State Police and Boston EMS leaders to explain Sunday’s safety measures.

Despite the more than 130 Boston Police officer deficit the department faces this year, there will be a robust presence of law enforcement, Cox said on Wednesday.

There are no known threats to the parade, he said. The department has also taken steps for implementing barriers to prevent vehicular attacks on large crowds of pedestrians, like the deadly New Year’s incident seen in New Orleans this winter.

Officers will be strategically placed on routes, Cox said, along with EMS stations throughout. Per usual, large bags and backpacks aren’t allowed, and there will be an increase of public toilets throughout the neighborhood this year.

“We ask parents to accompany their young people or not allow them to come at all,” Cox warned, adding that the event is “not a drinking fest.”

Flynn also sent a letter to address students and underage revelers through the Associated Independent Colleges & Universities of Massachusetts (AICUM) and the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents.

“It’s not Mardi Gras, and it’s not a party … last year was an embarrassment, and it can’t continue again,” Flynn told MassLive on Tuesday.

However, to move the parade out of South Boston would require more than just Flynn and the desire of the task force, said state Sen. Nick Collins, First Suffolk, on Wednesday night.

“The South Boston allied War Veterans Council have a Supreme Court right to put forth the parade of their assembly,” Collins said.

“No one has ever challenged that successfully. I don’t see that happening,” he said.

Flynn explained that, as many South Boston residents are now young professionals, “we need to do a better job of educating” the public about what the parade is about to promote better behavior.

He and Cox emphasized the parade is meant to honor military veterans and their service as a family-friendly event.

“I respect and welcome the young people that are living in South Boston. I think it’s also important for everyone in the community to know about our proud history of service to our nation,” Flynn said.

But to Larry Friedman, who’s owned the Economy True Value Hardware store for the past 12 years on Dorchester Street — right off the W Broadway parade route — the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations already have long-standing meaning to his business’s neighborhood.

“It doesn’t seem right [to move the parade], it’s tradition,” Friedman said. He closes his store every Parade Day to stay out of the bustling crowds, and said there’s only been one incident — a broken window — in the past 12 years.

A Sherwin Williams employee at the W Broadway location also said their store would close Sunday. While he’s seen no damage in the past two years, he noted the streets last year were covered with “more trash than I’ve ever seen,” which city workers cleaned up by noon the following Monday.

South Boston resident Patel has also managed the Bay View liquor store right off W Broadway for the past four years, which prepares to stop underage buyers each Parade Day with a “bouncer” at the front door. It’s the “busiest day of the year” for the small Southie spirit shop, he said.

To Patel, any plans to move the parade to downtown wouldn’t make sense.

Besides the reason of tradition, South Boston has wider streets and less neighborhood congestion than downtown, Patel argued. Additionally, moving the parade won’t lessen revelers’ rowdiness — it’ll just be harder to clean up in the tighter space, he said.

“If they’re making a mess here, they’re gonna make a mess there,” he said.

However, Flynn said he’s ready to take on any backlash he might face over the decision.

“I’ll pay any political price for moving the parade out of South Boston, but I will not stand for anyone disrespecting South Boston veterans and our military families,” Flynn said.

This post was originally published on this site