Arrests were back down during a chilly Hoboken LepreCon

HOBOKEN — The annual bar crawl held the first Saturday in March in Hoboken was still busy despite 22 degree temperatures, but things calmed down by nightfall as the wind picked up.
Sunday morning, Police Chief Ken Ferrante tweeted that from 8 a.m. Saturday until 4 a.m. Sunday morning, there were 477 calls for service, up from 432 last year. “But that had a lot to do with officers being proactive and taking care of issues before they escalated,” he said. He said it was easier to see the issues because of “diminished crowd sizes and traffic related issues.”
Twenty-eight people went to hospitals, down from 35 last year. 31 summonses were issued, down from 54, most for drinking with some urination and criminal mischief.
There were 11 arrests, down from 15 last year. Including: two simple assault, two obstruction, two DWI, four fights, one resisting arrest.
No sexual assaults or complaints against police officers reported so far this year.
And no police officers’ ribs were broken or shoulders dislocated this year.
Police Chief Ferrante sent Tweets to thank to his officers, as well as the other departments and agencies who helped out.
While organizers say the name “LepreCon” has been retired, it’s still mentioned on some of the crawl websites for this year.
Well, you got through another one, Hoboken! (There are still three crawls scheduled for upcoming weekends though.)
Ferrante had said before the event that taxpayers may pay more than $100,000 for the day. In some other areas, the towns mandate that bar crawl promoters kick in funds.
See our cover story in the Hoboken Reporter this weekend, by checking the print edition on your porch or clicking the Hoboken News section at the left of our homepage, hudsonreporter.com, for more on the costs and other matters.