South Boston St. Patrick's Day Parade sees biggest crowd post-pandemic

BIGGEST IN YEARS. JOHN ATWATER. TODAY’S NUMBERS WERE HUGE. IN FACT, ORGANIZERS BELIEVE IT’S THE LARGEST SOUTHIE PARADE SINCE PRE-COVID AND PEOPLE WERE USING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION. SO MUCH SO THAT THE RED LINE HAD TO BE BYPASSED AT BROADWAY STATION AT THE START OF THE PARADE. PAULA BRENNAN CAME FROM GALWAY, IRELAND, TO SEE A PARADE IN BOSTON. SHE HAS BEEN HEARING ABOUT. WE HEARD IT WAS ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD. YEAH, EVERYONE SAYS BETTER THAN NEW YORK, BETTER THAN DUBLIN. SO THAT’S WHY WE’RE HERE. IT’S AMONG THE BIGGEST AS WELL. ORGANIZERS PREDICTING MORE THAN A

MILLION PEOPLE WILL COME TO WATCH THIS ONE IN SOUTH BOSTON. THE MOST SINCE PRE-COVID. FRONT ROW SEATS GOT TO SEE PLENTY OF IRISH GREEN LEPRECHAUNS, IRISH DANCERS, FLAGS, POLITICIANS, EVEN IRISH WOLFHOUNDS WALKING IN THIS PARADE. IF YOU COULDN’T GET ON THE PARADE ROUTE, SOUTHIE APARTMENTS ON BROADWAY WEREN’T A BAD CHOICE FOR PARADE VIEWING. AND IF YOU NEEDED SOME HISTORY LESSONS ABOUT THIS EVENT, COMMANDER RANDY GREELEY IS HAPPY TO SHARE. YES, IT’S SAINT PATRICK’S DAY, BUT HERE IN BOSTON AND AROUND HERE, IT’S EVACUATION DAY. 248 YEARS AGO, THE BRITISH WERE EVACUATING. AND LIKE ONE OF OUR

STATE REP SAYS, WITHOUT EVACUATION DAY, WE MAY NEVER GOT TO INDEPENDENCE DAY. FOR BOSTON EMS, THIS COMPARES TO SUPER BOWL AND WORLD SERIES PARADES FOR JIM HOOLEY AND HIS CREW. BUT FIRST RESPONDERS ARE HAPPY THIS PARADE HAS BEEN SCALED

BACK FROM PREVIOUS SAINT PATRICK’S PARADES, WITH ALL THE THINGS THEY DID HERE WITH, YOU KNOW, LIMITING THE HOURS AND THE AFTER PARTIES. IT’S IT’S BEEN A MUCH MORE FUN EVENT THAN CRAZY EVENT THAN IN DECADES PAST. BALTIMORE PEOPLE ARE STILL WANDERING HOME. IN FACT, PACKAGE STORES HAD TO BE CLOSED AT 4 P.M. THIS AFTERNOON. ALL BARS

AND RESTAURANTS MUST BE CLEARED OUT BY 730 TONIGHT, AND BOSTON POLICE TELL US SEVEN PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH TODAY’