Two dozen individuals and restaurants cited on race day

A dozen individuals and a dozen bars were cited for violations during Sunday’s bike race in Manayunk and Roxborough.

A city police spokeswoman said those statistics are an indication that efforts to curb rowdy, drunken behavior on race day may have worked.

“That’s minuscule compared to how many people attended the event,” said Officer Christine O’Brien.  

Sgt. William Latorre, commander for the Philadelphia Office of Liquor Control Enforcement, agreed this year’s Philadelphia International Bicycling Championship, with its 10 climbs up the Manayunk Wall, featured less bad behavior than in previous years.

“Having worked that event before, I can tell you that yesterday’s event was much more mild than in years past and the community itself, from homeowners to participants to spectators overall, were very responsible,” said Sgt. William Latorre, commander for the Philadelphia Office of Liquor Control Enforcement.

This year, neighbors banned together and created an ad-hoc bike committee to work with authorities to curb the craziness on race day – the scattered beer cans, noise and trampling of flowers.

Police report that the 12 individual citations broke down this way: two for aggravated assault, two for underage drinking, one for having an open container of alcohol, five for disorderly conduct and two for public drunkenness. 

On top of those individual citations, 12 bars in Manayunk were cited for violating the liquor code. 

Sgt. Latorre said he couldn’t name specific restaurants that were cited just yet because the citation process is still ongoing. 

“The actual decisions of what we will cite for will be put on paper and put through the legal process, but a dozen bars will receive enforcement actions,” Latorre said. “The process can range from steep fines to suspension and, ultimately, revocations.” 

Latorre said a number of undercover officers were out patrolling the neighborhood on race day in addition to the more than 20 liquor enforcement officers seen Sunday morning strutting down Lyceum and Main Street in blue shirts and black vests.

When the vested officers stopped at bars along Main Street, they notified restaurant owners that the undercover officers had already been in their establishment and that they were being cited for violating the liquor code.

The liquor code violations range from serving minors to serving alcohol before 11 a.m. 

Overall, bike race fans seemed to have heard the neighborhood’s message loud and clear: bring the race back to its family-friendly roots.  Residents say race-day conditions have improved but there’s more work to be done. 

Manayunk and Roxborough residents will hold a private meeting this Wednesday to assess the city’s enforcement effort on race day and figure out a plan for moving forward.