Mayor Fulop announced that in honor of the St. Peter’s Basketball team making it to the Elite 8 in this year’s NCAA Tournament aka March Madness, Jersey City will be throwing a parade for the team this Friday, April 1st at 2PM.
(Photo credit: @saintpetersuniversity)
On March 28th, the St. Peter’s Peacocks lost by 20 points to North Carolina. After shocking locals and national basketball fans alike by beating two teams that were expected to sweep our local team to get to this point, the Peacocks made their city and state extremely proud.
The Mayor said in a statement that the city will honor the team and its coach Friday afternoon with a parade that will end at the school with a rally for the students with the public. He added that there is still much to be worked out, including a time for the event.
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“Obviously, yesterday did not work out as we hoped, but it doesn’t change anything from our perspective. They were playing against some goliaths of programs that invest tens of millions of dollars in coaches, arenas, and recruiting. These kids represented the best of this city, the immigrant personality of this city, the blue-collar personality of this city … those guys embodied everything about Jersey City that is great and we think a parade is really appropriate,” the Mayor told The Jersey Journal.
Mayor Fulop will MC the pep rally. Local and state dignitaries will be invited to speak. Saint Peter’s University school officials, coaches, and players from the men’s basketball team will also take the stage. He added that he is trying to include some of the original “Run, Baby, Run” 1968 team members as part of the event, NJ.com reported, and that he is hoping to include students from the Jersey City public schools.
The parade will take place on Friday, April 1st at 2PM. It will start at the statue of Abraham Lincoln and proceed down JFK Boulevard, ending in front of St. Peter’s University (Between Montgomery Street + Glenwood Avenue) where a large rally will take place.
Press parking will be reserved on Montgomery Street going eastbound between JFK Boulevard and West Side Avenue.
