THRONGS FETE PENNANT-WINNING PHILS

IT WASN'T the World Series - not yet - and this time around there was no more 25-year-old Curse of Billy Penn to stomp out.

It was just a great night to party - and on an unseasonably balmy October weeknight, thousands of Philadelphians did exactly that, swarming in the streets as the Phillies won their second straight National League pennant.

Indeed, what was a shock and an emotional release last October now plays out in this city of winners with well-oiled choreography - as cops and revelers found their places at party spots from South Philly up through the Northeast.

With warm autumn air buffeting the city, fans began pouring into the streets even before Shane Victorino squeezed the last out in center field at 11:47 p.m.

At Frankford and Cottman avenues - increasingly the northern satellite headquarters of Philadelphia phandom - there were already a couple of hundred boisterous folks outdoors some 45 minutes earlier, with the game still in the bottom of the 7th.

At Reale's Bar and Grill on Frankford, a cluster of people watched the game through the front window because there was no room inside.

Mary Ann Moshons, 54, of the Northeast, was one of them. "It's been a great night. . . . It doesn't get any better."

Visor-wearing police in riot gear huddled on a corner and placed barricades at the intersection and another nearby, but the crowd was peaceful as the game dragged on toward midnight.

Brian D'Angelo, 24, wandered over shirtless, his torso painted red but for a white Phillies "P." "We were down here last year at this time and saw the craziness then - and my friends and I decided to come down and be a part of it tonight."

Shortly after midnight, police reported a handful of arrests. One overenthusiastic reveler toppled a traffic light at Broad and Maste streets.

At 12:45 a.m. today, police reported that revelers were jumping on cars and breaking car windows at Broad and Wharton streets in South Philly.

About 1 a.m. at Broad and Walnut streets, as many as 1,000 mostly young revelers surged into the street, many of them body-surfing, as about 25 uniformed cops watched.

The heaviest police presence was along South Broad, the scene of the most upheaval last October, when the Phillies won the 2008 World Series. Even before the last four, clusters of cops in riot gear stood at the major intersections and along the center median of the thoroughfare.

The largest group of officers was in front of Robinson Luggage, which was looted during last year's rowdy celebration.

A few fans carried their girlfriends on their shoulders, but unlike last year no one was climbing the street-lamp poles - which had been greased ahead of time to prevent that from happening.

Meanwhile, many fans who positioned themselves for a party were without TVs and thus constantly checking their cell phones for updates on the score.

By midnight, a couple of hundreds fans, most in their 20s, were at Broad and Spruce as hordes streamed out of bars. While they'd been chanting "Let's Go Phillies" before the game ended, as the morning officially arrived the chant had changed to "Yankees Suck!" in anticipation of a showdown with the reviled New Yorkers.

Fans started to arrive about 11 last night at the Modell's, the sport-ing-goods store, in Snyder Plaza in South Philadelphia. Waiting for them was an eager crew of sales people led by manager Paul Usher, ready to sell National League champion T-shirts, hats and the like.

"It's great," Usher said. "The fans in Philly are loyal. They support their team 100 percent. It's exciting to watch the fans gobble up the shirts and hats. Shipments will be coming in all night.

"And the fans will be coming back after we win the World Series," he added.

As the game ended, Rob Blackmore, 28, and his brother, Steve, 30, and their pal, Frank Marshen, 37, who had come from North Carolina for the game, were puffing victory cigars outside the store, before heading in to stock up on memorabilia.

"I'm buying one of everything," Frank said. "These guys are treating me. This doesn't happen all the time, and when it does you go out of your way to get some of this stuff. You splurge because it's your dream."

Meanwhile, it wasn't champagne, but many in the 500 or so fans gathered at Broad and Shunk poured beer cans over each other as red and white firecrackers exploded over their heads.

Anthory Vigneo, 20, waved a massive Phillies flag in the middle of the crowd. "I'm going the Word Series!" he said. "We're going to kill the Yankees."

Thousands of fans literally ran down Frankford Avenue from Cottman in Mayfair, screaming joyfully after the last out of the game.

Cries of "Bring on the Yankees! could be heard above the din. Police officers stood by, but they weren't needed to do anything but high-five the celebrants.

Staff writers Stu Bykofsky, Kitty

Caparella, David Gambacorta, Dan Geringer, Christine Olley and Mari Saito

contributed to this report.