Public urination. Public intoxication. Profanity and harassment are just a sample of the two dozen complaints lodged by Wrigleyvilleresidents to the office of Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) about revelers from the Twelve Bars of Xmas pub crawl.
"The community has had a lot of concerns regarding the size of these pub crawls and the neighborhood impact they've had," said Erin Duffy, Tunney's director of community outreach. Residents complained about people walking into traffic, passing out, vomiting and littering in the neighborhood, she said.
The annual bar crawl held Saturday has become a hot-button issue after reports of violence and property damage surfaced. Gregg Greaves, 23, was arrested and charged with aggravated battery causing great bodily harm for allegedly stabbing a man with a broken beer bottle in the bathroom of Red Ivy, a stop on the TBOX bar crawl, the Tribune reported.
Officers were called to the bar at 12:26 a.m. Sunday. The official TBOX ran from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday.
Tunney has plans to meet with city departments to explore regulating pub crawls, such as capping the size, restricting the time, and considering whether the city should require permits, more security measures and street closures, Duffy said.
Tunney's office regularly meets with bars in the Wrigleyville area but has not since Saturday, she said. While he is looking into proposing legislation, Duffy did not believe an ordinance would be introduced at Wednesday's City Council meeting.
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