‘Like our Super Bowl’: NYC’s hero St. Patrick’s Day bartenders spill on how to deal with millions of revelers — and survive 16-hour shifts
NY Post
These sham-rock stars are raising the bar.
On March 17, St. Patrick’s Day partiers from the world over will gussy up in green and descend on NYC for the world’s oldest and largest parade of its kind, drawing approximately 150,000 marchers, around 2 million spectators, and nearly as many bagpipes.
For the hardy army of bartenders working the front lines on Tuesday, the annual scrum will be the ultimate test of a malt-pourer’s mettle — think “Braveheart” meets “Cocktail.”
“St. Pat’s is like our Super Bowl,” laughed Sean Reilly, owner of Sean’s Bar and Kitchen near Times Square. “By 8 a.m., the bars start filling up. You really have to be able to handle the heat.”
The rush, the publican told The Post, comes in two waves — the morning, before the start time of the 265th annual procession down Fifth Avenue, and then post-parade, when things wind down around 4:30 p.m.
It’s an all-day, all-night affair, during which enough Guinness will be consumed to lay the population of the five boroughs low. (”You’ve got to wear your most comfortable shoes that you possibly could own,” Reilly admitted.)
