Hoboken parade was insult to Irish culture

[caption id="attachment_69511" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Mayor Zimmer."]

[/caption]

As you already know, the city of Hoboken, known best as the birthplace of Frank Sinatra, will not host a St. Patrick's Day parade this year for the first time in more than a quarter-century.

Frankly, who can blame them?

No offense to the hard-working volunteers who organized the event, but the fact is that the parade brought in lots of young adults intent on proving that you don't have to live near a beach to act like a character from "Jersey Shore."

Sign up to The Irish Echo Newsletter

Sign up today to get daily, up-to-date news and views from Irish America.

Picture Snooki with freckles, and "The Situation" with red hair. That pretty much sums up the city's annual tribute to all things Irish.

Sad. And true.

Mind you, this sort of thing is not contained to Hoboken. Far from it, and more's the shame. Hoboken may not be the last municipality to decide that it simply cannot afford the cost of holding a parade that serves as an excuse for young people of all races, creeds, and nationalities to show how far the national IQ has sunk since the end of Prohibition.

Last year's parade in Hoboken led to mass arrests for crimes ranging from disorderly conduct to sexual assault. Merchants, save for pub owners, basically lost a day's worth of business because nobody but the revelers ventured into the city's revived and charming downtown.

The day's rap sheet was disgraceful, a sad commentary on how an event designed to call attention to Irish culture and history has degenerated into a drunkfest in far too many towns. More than 250 citations were issued (for public urination, among other celebratory activities), and 34 people were arrested.

Some might be inclined to dismiss the insanity as kids being kids. You wouldn't say that, though, if your child were the victim of sexual assault.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer said the crowds, which numbered 20,000 last year, were uncontrollable.

"I spoke to families who told me they don't feel comfortable walking outside with their kids," she told reporters. "Residents here feel they have to sit out in front of their homes to protect them."

Having seen Hoboken on St. Patrick's Day, I have no doubt that the mayor is right.

Zimmer proposed moving the parade to a week night in an obvious effort to cut down on the number of revelers. The committee's volunteers declined to change the date, traditionally on the first Saturday of March, and so the parade was cancelled.

It's not hard to sympathize with the volunteers, who put in long hours of planning and who have only good intentions. But the committee's reaction to Zimmer's decision sheds light on a broader Irish-American refusal to see what is taking place every March in communities around the country. The committee issued a statement that, in essence, accused Mayor Zimmer of bigotry.

In saying that they would not hold their parade on a weekday as the mayor suggested, the committee members asserted that they would not "lower ourselves to the level of those who speak from a place of ignorance and ethnic/religious intolerance."

Sorry, folks, but you can't play that card. Not when experience and statistics show that the Hoboken parade was a threat to public safety - and Mayor Zimmer's foremost responsibility is to protect her fellow citizens from the kind of mayhem such as the antics of self-absorbed drunks from a variety of ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds.

Critics of Hoboken's decision noted that "there are some elected officials" elsewhere in New Jersey "who have figured out how to protect their residents during ethnic, religious and other community celebrations."

Yes, but a parade in smaller towns like Belmar or Morristown or West Orange is not quite the same as a parade in a densely populated city with lots of bars and access to train lines all over the state.

The suggestion that Zimmer's decision is based on a combination of intolerance and incompetence simply is unfair. It does nobody any good to make these kinds of charges when common experience shows that the Hoboken parade attracted idiots who made life miserable and unsafe for residents and, no doubt, for visiting Irish Americans who just wanted to hear the pipes and cheer for the marchers.

Municipalities around the country these days are looking to cut costs dramatically. If the organizers of St. Patrick's Day celebrations are wise, they will realize that the time may well come when communities simply will be unwilling to absorb the costs associated with parades that are, in Zimmer's description, "uncontrollable."

Nobody should have to fear for his or her safety during the St. Patrick's Day parade season. It is up to Irish Americans to make that point, and to self-police their celebrations so that they reflect the community's values, rather than resemble a house party at the Jersey Shore.

I have been to plenty of parades in small towns and suburbs where the crowds are well-behaved and respectful.

I've also seen the aftermath of Hoboken's parade.

The mayor did the right thing.

It's up to the broader Irish-American community to make sure no other mayors are forced to make similar decisions.

 

Donate