Some 'hiccups,' but Philadelphia officials say Eagles parade a success
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia city officials said on Friday that except for a few 'hiccups,' the parade and celebration on Thursday honoring the Eagles for their Super Bowl win was relatively peaceful.
During a news conference on Friday, leaders said overall the crowd was well-behaved, though there were some arrests.
Police say two people were stabbed, an officer was assaulted, and four police vehicles sustained minor damage during the parade.
"A female, one down in South Philadelphia, decided to rush down on the parade line and actually had to be arrested, and decided to assault one of our police officers. No real injuries to speak of," Commissioner Richard Ross said.
He said one of the stabbings occurred at Liberty Place, and it was unclear whether it had anything to do with the parade. The victim had been having "problems in the neighborhood," said Ross.
"The second individual, a 25-year-old male, was assaulted around 2200 and the Parkway. All we can get thus far is that it was a fight he was engaged in," said Ross. "Right now he's not able to tell us exactly what happened beyond that."
Both stabbing victims were expected to survive. There was no word on any arrests.
There were five citations for disorderly conduct.
As for the police vehicles that were damaged, Ross said that was mainly from people climbing on the cars to get a better vantage point.
One issue that prompted some parade-goers to call Action News: A bus that apparently blocked the view of parade watchers at Broad and Chestnut just as the team passed.
It was apparently a police matter.
"That was a vehicle that was used to transport officers needed to be mobilized. I assure you it was not the intent of Philly PD to obstruct the view of anybody," Ross said.
Apparently, the officers were mobilized to deal with people who climbed and broke a jumbotron at City Hall.
City officials did not have any estimates as to crowd size for the parade. A published report on Friday had the number at 700,000 based on an analysis of photos of the parade.
The city is skeptical of those numbers, saying they believe the crowd to be the biggest ever assembled for an event in the city.
"I did work the Phillies parade, and there were clearly more folks there yesterday," Ross said. "I walked from the Art Museum down to the stadium and back, and there were nothing but people everywhere."
The city said some 60 tons of trash has been collected post-parade. If it's any indication of the crowd size, officials said that was the most collected after a major event.
SEPTA released preliminary figures, estimating some 395,000 rides on the Broad Street Line and Market Frankford Line, and another 65,000 to 80,000 on Regional Rail.
But what about the parade's price tag? The amount to be paid by the Eagles and the amount to be paid by taxpayers is still to be determined.
"I was not mayor when the Phillies won, I have to figure out what the arrangement was, but we will be transparent and open with numbers as we have them," Mayor Jim Kenney said.
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