In an effort to prevent the violence of the 2001 Mardi Gras celebration, South Street bars will close at 9 p.m. and turn everyone out by 11 p.m. tonight.
Fat Tuesday, a bar located on South Street, is one of the establishments instrumental in bringing people to South Street each year, according to bar manager Rich Frank. Fat Tuesday "has a big part to do with Mardi Gras since it's our name."
Frank, who recently spoke with City Councilman Frank DiCicco and State Sen. Vincent Fumo, said that several institutions were involved in the talks, including the bars and the Police Department.
During the Mardi Gras celebration of 2001, unusually warm weather drew 40,000 celebrants to the streets. Comprised mainly of young adults under the age of 21, the crowd began looting stores and rioting by midnight.
"2001 was an unfortunate situation," said Brian Abernathy, DiCicco's legislative assistant. "The crowd got out of control, and there wasn't enough police assistance."
Since then, the city has looked to avoid similar situations.
"Discussions have been going on with city officials since" that incident, Frank said.
Last year, after negotiations with the City Council, bar managers voluntarily closed at 7 p.m. The measure proved successful and is therefore being reinstituted for this year's event, albeit two hours later.
Despite the proximity of the 2001 violence to his bar, Frank said he did not believe his patrons were responsible for the incident.
"I never thought the bars were the problem for [the rioting] anyway," Frank said. "Underage kids being on the street is the problem."
Despite his skepticism, Frank noted the effectiveness of the early closings thus far.
The bars close early "so it's not an attractant for the under-21-year-old crowd," Frank said. Like last year, "we're just trying to keep the event incident-free."
City officials said that the bars have been very cooperative during the ongoing discussions.
"We certainly appreciate the bar owners making an effort to ensure that that situation doesn't happen again," Abernathy said.
