6 Arrested in New Jersey's Infamous 'LepreCon' Bar Crawl (PHOTOS)

HOBOKEN, NJ — Just as St. Patrick supposedly drove the snakes out of Ireland (according to an unlikely legend, anyway), an annual day of partying drives the thirsty to Hoboken each March for the Hoboken LepreCon bar crawl, an event reviled by police and revered by the younger set.

On Saturday, scores of people in green shirts, pants and socks took the opportunity to enjoy a few of the mile-square city's nearly 140 liquor-serving establishments.

But there seemed to be nearly as much blue as green, as throngs of police from Hoboken and other towns watched over the festivities and helped keep order.

Also present was the locally famous "Hoboken Batman," clad in the Ghostbuster costume he says he'll wear for one more week before transforming back to the Caped Crusader.

On Sunday morning, Police Chief Ken Ferrante tweeted final arrest and police call numbers for this year's event. He said there were more arrests than last year but fewer hospital visits.

Yesterday, @HobokenPD responded to 377 calls for service over 20 hrs, compared to 2019 where it was 322 in 16 hours (this yr 18/ hr , '19 was 20/hr). There were 6 arrests which will be detailed later, compared to 4 in '19. There were 16 City Ordinance Summonses issued, 12 in '19.
— Chief Ken Ferrante (@KenFerrante)

The @HobokenPD issued 32 moving violation summonses yesterday,37 in '19. There were only 12 people taken to hospitals, down from 22 last year. in 2011, 166 went to the hospital(as per NY Times)!! That is the main number which shows this day has finally been brought under control.
— Chief Ken Ferrante (@KenFerrante)

"That is the main number which shows this day has finally been brought under control," he said regarding participants heading to the hospital. He said the other numbers are a big improvement over years ago.

2011 numbers need to be looked at from the last St. Patrick's Day Parade, 555 City Ordinances issued for drinking and public urination compared to the 16 yesterday. The 166 taken to HUMC, there largest one day total ever, 12 yesterday. Then 34 arrests then compared to 6 yesterday
— Chief Ken Ferrante (@KenFerrante)

The mile-square city's business owners have said that holiday events such as these help them stay in business through the summer months, when patrons head to the Jersey Shore.

The police deployments didn't stop people from visiting. In line at one establishment near the train station, a man was overheard telling a girl that he planned to "go back to my place and try to maintain stoke."

The history

The festivities take place far in advance of St. Patrick's Day because, years ago, Hoboken used to hold its traditional parade early so as not to compete with St. Patrick's parades in New York and other towns. Hoboken's post-college population started throwing private house parties and heading to the bars early to drink on parade day.

When the St. Patrick's Parade Committee declined to move the 25-year-old parade from a Saturday to a weekday in 2012 — after the mayor asked it to do so in order to quell rowdiness — it ended the tradition, but the private house parties and bar crawls continued.

Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla said in a release late Sunday, "Thanks to the hard work and collaboration with Hoboken Police Chief Ken Ferrante and our public safety officers, I’m pleased that the unsanctioned 'Leprechaun' event is continuing to lose steam and is a far cry from the destruction of previous years. My administration has made a substantial effort to engage with a number of bar owners about 'con' events, and as a result, an all-time low of only four bars participated yesterday, and I thank those establishments for their assistance."

Read more background about Hoboken LepreCon here.

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