By Jennifer Lin, Allison Steele and Dwight Ott
The Philadelphia Inquirer
It’s OK to say the word now.
Parade!
And, oh, how we’ve waited for this one.
The only other time the Phillies won a World Series, in 1980, fans threw boxloads of computer punch cards and shredded paper from office windows onto Broad Street.
Today, you’re more likely to see water-soluble, eco-friendly confetti flying around.
Police expect more than a million people to converge on Center City to watch the Phillies take their noontime victory ride on flatbed trucks from 20th and Market Streets, around City Hall, and down Broad Street to Citizens Bank Park.
An hour-long rally at the ballpark, expected to begin at 1:45 p.m., will be telecast live to fans across the street at Lincoln Financial Field. Gates at both stadiums will open at 10 a.m., but only fans with tickets will be allowed in. The free tickets were snapped up within an hour of becoming available on the Phillies’ Web site yesterday.
Because of the expected crush of people, Mayor Nutter urged fans to take public transportation even as he asked them to understand that SEPTA will be stretched to the limit.
Parking on Broad Street will be banned until the parade passes; the Philadelphia Parking Authority warned that violators’ cars will be towed. The city also told downtown businesses not to plan deliveries during the parade.
At a news conference at Citizens Bank Park yesterday, Nutter urged restraint.
“Take your patience pill,” he said. “You can be joyous, but you can’t be a jackass.”
Too many who fit the latter description spoiled the party Wednesday night. Police made 76 arrests and reported that 10 Center City businesses had been vandalized. To boost coverage, Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said the department had canceled days-off for today and would extend shifts.
Nutter added that police would be “very aggressive” in going after vandals.
Police also have asked newspaper companies to remove honor boxes along the parade route so revelers won’t throw them through windows - which happened Wednesday night.
For the 1980 World Series parade, state liquor stores in Philadelphia shut down and Center City banks closed out of fear that police would be occupied elsewhere.
This time, liquor stores will be open, according to the Liquor Control Board.
However, Commerce Bank, a target of vandalism Wednesday night, will temporarily close branches along the parade route. The decision was made for employee safety and was not a response to the mayhem after the Phillies’ victory, said Rebecca Acevedo, a bank spokeswoman.
More than a dozen Philadelphia businesses - including Comcast, PNC, Peco Energy and Tastykake - have donated “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to help the city pay for police overtime and parade cleanup, Nutter said.
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