Last week, New Haven police vowed to stop turning a blind eye to the flagrant public drinking violations that have historically accompanied the New Haven St. Patrick’s Day Parade. The police department issued a letter declaring that this year it plans to uphold city ordinances prohibiting the consumption of alcohol and possession of open containers of alcohol in public. The stricter stance means that the multitudes who usually keep their kegs and cases of beer on the sidewalk should move out of the public eye or expect a 99 dollar fine for their transgressions. By posting visible signs along the parade route, the city plans to give parade-goers fair warning of this intended crackdown.

New Haven’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, the oldest in New England, has been a point of pride for the city since 1842. This beloved Irish tradition draws as many as 175,000 people each year, making it the largest spectator event in Connecticut. Although exceedingly popular and steeped in history, many have complained in recent years that the parade has ceased to be a family event. Parents, scandalized by drunken hooliganism have declared they can no longer attend with their children. Much to the disgust of New Haven residents braving Chapel Street on Monday morning, parade attendees have been known to leave vomit and destruction in their wake as a legacy of the previous day’s festivities.

The proposed reforms come on the heels of a particularly bad parade last year in which the debauchery reached a new level: Rowdy parade attendees smashed the window of the Subway restaurant at 926 Chapel, and drunken crowds delayed an ambulance from reaching a woman who had passed out. The city has cited staff shortages as a reason for the lax enforcement of drinking laws, but this year it plans to increase the number of cops on duty to effectively implement the new rules. Fortunately for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade Committee, which already must pay 26,000 dollars for overtime police presence, New Haven has agreed to take care of the extra expense these anti-alcohol measures will entail.

The St. Patrick’s Day crackdown forms part of New Haven’s larger effort to combat the issue of public drinking. In the past year, the city has also attempted to withhold the permit for a men’s soccer league due to instances of public drinking, and it has proposed a ban on drinking at Lighthouse Point Park, which is likely to take effect soon. A proposed bill before the Board of Aldermen will fine any club owners who serve alcohol to under-age party-goers. So far, this is the only New Haven parade that has experienced new restrictions—the luck of the Irish must have run out.