New Orleans Police estimate Tuesday night's Saints Victory Parade crowd was at least 500,000 strong.
They said it was bigger than any Mardi Gras parade in the past 25 years. Although it was a huge success, it didn't come without big problems getting drivers in and out of the city.
Tuesday, anyone could see peoples' excitement in blessing the boys in black and gold. That excitement spilled into Wednesday with new "thank you" signs posted all over Quarterback Drew Brees' home gate. Someone even wrote a "thank you" in sidewalk chalk for number nine.
“To have a night bigger than Mardi Gras, that says it all. We are back. And the saints have led that recovery from day one,” said City Council Member Jackie Clarkson.
“It brought everybody together. It was probably one of the most outstanding times in New Orleans history,” said New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Warren Riley.
He also admitted that physically bringing more than 500,000 people into New Orleans caused some big problems, including grid lock that led some to miss the parade.
“The route itself caused some nightmares, in the sense that it grid-locked everything. We had to wait for the parade to cross St. Charles and Poydras, and then you had the parade going back across Poydras, and going up Convention Center Boulevard,” Riley said.
The grid lock led people to just park in the middle of the street.
“Just from being here at the parade myself and walking around, people, to a certain extent, were parking wherever they could. People were parking on sidewalks, blocking driveways,” said New Orleans Public Works Director, Robert Mendoza, who is also in charge of the city’s parking enforcement.
Riley said the city and the Saints came up with the parade route , and according to the Superintendent, it was shorter than most, with the average parade route stretching 5.4 miles.
“You had twice as many people in an area that was only 3.8 square miles. So the route was shorter, the number of people was doubled. So, obviously, logistically, you had some things that caused some problems,” he said.
“You had lines everywhere. You had lines at the ferry trying to get across,” Mendoza said.
But even with the traffic tie-ups and the record crowd, Riley said there were no major incidents of violence reported, and even though the department has had to work four more major events than expected, the Superintendent said he hasn't heard a single complaint, as many of his officers are “Who ‘Dats” themselves.
According to Riley, the biggest commotion was caused by Saints players and coaches getting off their floats to be among the fans, but even that happened peacefully.
The NOPD will now focus on Mardi Gras where larger-than-normal crowds are expected. The NOPD will get the help of more than 200 officers from other state law enforcement agencies.
