Archive: October, 2008
Catherine Lucey
From Chris down at Citizens Bank Park:Chase Utley stepped up to the mike and said: "World champions. World f------ champions!"
Mayor Nutter said the crowd estimate is about 2 million but the city is reviewing video and aerial photos and may revise.
In South Philadelphia, Nutter saw a guy holding a sign that said "I'm being joyous, not a jackass," referencing Nutter's message from yesterday.
"We made eye contact," Nutter said. "I pointed. He smiled."
Catherine Lucey
The parade-related transit problems aren’t over, not by a long-shot. We just spoke to Deputy Mayor for Transportation Rina Cutler, who said she’s expecting a long night of clogged highways and delayed trains.“The system was just never anticipated to try to move millions of people in the course of the day,” Cutler said, predicting tough travel conditions for several more hours.
The festivities at Citizens Bank Park are just wrapping up, which means roughly a 100,000 people will have to be moved out of South Philly.
“I’m waiting for the crowds to start to come out of the stadium, which will cause chaos in slowing down the system again,” Cutler said.
Catherine Lucey
This morning Erin Avon, 31, her husband and their 10-month-old son went to the Wynnewood train station to take public transit to the Phillies Parade – just as the city advised yesterday.After three full trains passed by, they got fed up.
“So we got in the car,” Avon said. “We had no issue driving in and parking.”
Their story was not unusual at the parade today, where many fans talked about long waits for trains – or getting stuck without being able to board. Over in New Jersey, some fans gave up waiting for PATCO trains and walked over the Ben Franklin Bridge.
According to SEPTA spokesman Richard Maloney, the region’s public transit system was just completely overwhelmed by the number of people.
“It was historic,” Maloney said. “Starting about 7:30 they just came in hordes. We are running every possible vehicle we have and we’re running every vehicle we have as many times we can.”
At 1 p.m, SEPTA halted all inbound Regional Rail trains to the city so they would have all their trains available to take people out of town. They also are not running the Broad Street Line south of the Vine Street stop, again to try and keep more trains available to take people north, away from the parade site.
Maloney said SEPTA still has a big task ahead.
“The worst is yet to come. Getting everybody out of here is going to be a monumental task,” he said.
Catherine Lucey
According to Chris, the parade has ground to a halt at Broad and Oregon streets because the crowd has moved into the street front of the floats with the coaches and players.Now cops are trying regain control. Police on horseback are trying to push the crowd back.
Catherine Lucey
On CBS-3, we just saw a couple get engaged at the parade, down at Broad and Washington. And now they can celebrate with a million plus people!Catherine Lucey
Chris reports that fans are lined up a block deep on the side streets off Broad and Market. Many fans are running south on 13th and 15th streets and then toward Broad, keeping pace as the parade moves south. And we can see on TV that after the parade goes by, many fans are just spilling into the street and following the procession.Fans are climbing anything they can for a better view -- trees and news stands and bus stops. At Broad and Carpenter two young men clung to tree branches while teetering on top of a chain link fence.
This party is going to go on for a long time...
Catherine Lucey
Parades are educational right? Although most area schools are open today, we saw a lot of kids out enjoying the parade.David and Rene McKeighan, of West Chester, brought their ten-year-old son Kevin.
"We called him in sick today with Phillies fever," Rene said.
Catherine Lucey
Forget Disney, Philly may actually be the happiest place on earth right now. Massive roars of joy are rippling across the city as the Phillies parade rolls through the streets. Red, white and blue confetti fills the air.According to Chris Brennan, who is riding the media bus in the parade, there are eight floats, with the Phanatic, ball girls and broadcasters first, followed by the World Series trophy, then three floats for players and the Phillies staff. Pat Burrell is riding atop a Budweiser wagon hauled by eight Clydesdale horses.
The parade couldn't kick off right at noon, because the start point was so choked by fans. Cops frantically worked to clear the course. But they did eventually take off and started rolling past City Hall at about 12:30 p.m.
Over at City Hall, the frantic crowds stretch for blocks. While things mostly seem calm, there is plenty of beer drinking and pot smoking going on, so cops will have to keep an eye on the mood. It also looks like lots of fans plan to follow the parade down to the stadiums, so that will be a crazy scene too.
Catherine Lucey
We just ran into Mayor Nutter as he left City Hall to go get on a float."Like James Brown -- I feel good," said Nutter, who was wearing a Phillies jacket.
Nutter said he just wants Philadelphians to have some good, clean fun today, saying he hopes "that everybody has a great time, that folks enjoy it, that they feel better about themselves."
Nutter was joined by wife Lisa, who was carrying a red feather boa, presumably destined to be part of her celebratory ensemble.
Catherine Lucey
If you're lucky you're already at the parade, or you plan to watch from the comfort of your couch. Because we hear that public transit is totally overwhelmed today.SEPTA's Regional Rail trains are running more than a half hour behind schedule. And we just heard from Daily News reporter Jason Nark that there's a two-hour wait at his PATCO station in Lindenwald, NJ. So he's walking over the bridge.
Jennifer Lucas, 31, of Lafayette Hill, Pa. told us she didn't want to deal with traveling this morning. So Lucas, her husband and their two young sons stayed at the Sheraton in Center City last night.
Hearing any travel nightmares? Let us know.
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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