Greenville Avenue’s St. Patty’s Day Parade: Same celebration, new rules

If you’ve got your “Kiss Me I’m Irish” T-shirt and beer-filled cooler ready to go for tomorrow’s St. Patrick’s Day parade on Greenville, get ready for some new rules.
Thanks to the new police station that opened this year, there’s been a patrolling zone shuffle of sorts. A portion of Greenville Avenue is now under a new beat, so that means new rules for this year’s parade-goers.
A neighbor on the Lower Greenville Neighborhood Association tells us there’s going to be a big increase in police presence at this year’s event (including some plain clothes officers mixed in the crowd). Supposedly, there’s going to be a drunk-tank and an “intoxilizer unit”, which is a portable building for processing DWI and MIP arrests. The bars also weren’t issued Special User Permits this year, which means police officers get to decide if the street party will end at 7 p.m. or not. It also means police officers have final say-so when someone’s reached their drinking limit—so if an officer tells you you’ve had enough, you’d best take heed.
If you plan on heading out to Greenville this weekend, make sure you wear your green garb so you don’t get pinched until your bruised, and make sure you celebrate your Irish (or Irish-for-the-day) heritage responsibly.