After over a decade, the Hoboken Business Alliance is seeking the public’s input to weigh the return of the St. Patrick’s Day parade.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“We believe that by working hand in hand with Hoboken officials, small business owners and the still strong and fiercely proud Irish American community that calls Hoboken home, we can recreate the best parts of the parade,” HBA Executive Director Roxanne Earley said in a statement.
“In order to do that we need the input of every corner of our community, and that’s why we
are promoting this survey.”
The alliance contends that the parade represents an exciting opportunity to bring crucial
economic stimulation to countless small business across the city, namely bars and restaurants, in the early part of the year when business is often slow.
In recent years the rise of ‘con’ events (such as LepreCon) has filled this gap in a in a less culturally respectful and less community-friendly way, though their presence in the Mile Square City has fizzled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under initial plans being proposed by the HBA a stipulation of bringing back the parade would be that bar owners would commit to refusing to participate in LepreCon thus forcing the privately organized bar crawl to search for another host community.
The goal of reconstituting the parade, Earley added, would be to bring economic benefit to a greater variety of businesses including bookstores, art galleries, and more family oriented restaurants.
“Our city is widely known and appreciated for its variety of family friendly events, like the Ragamuffin Parade and annual tree lighting.” HBA President James Runkle added.
“We believe there is an opportunity to give the St. Patrick’s Parade back to our families and once again make the first Sunday of March one that celebrates the diversity and culture of Hoboken.”
“The Irish are known as great storytellers, something Kate and I, as owners of a beloved Hoboken bookstore, truly admire,” Donna Garban, of Little City Books said.
“This is something we know we can celebrate by bringing back the St. Patrick’s Day parade in a family friendly way.”
Jennie Pu, the director of the Hoboken Public Library, and Yoseline Galarza of Hoboken Hair, also spoke in favor of bringing back a family friendly version of the Irish-themed parade.
The parade hasn’t been held since 2011, the 26th year the event was held, with organizers announcing in 2012 it would be cancelled after they could not come to terms with then-Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s administration – who wanted the parade held on a week day.
“The city of Hoboken’s inability to protect our spectators, bands and participants led us to this heartbreaking decision. The idea of marching in a parade, in the dark, on a week night, is as insulting as it is unreasonable,” the parade committee said in a statement at the time.
At the 2011 parade, Hoboken police made 34 arrests and issued 296 citations for violations that included public urination and having open containers of alcohol in public, as NBC New York reported.
The online survey, which will be available until November 10th, can be filled out here.