They’re greasing the poles in New Orleans ... but not Philadelphia
Eagles fans in New Orleans for the Super Bowl may encounter poles greased by property owners. Back in Philadelphia, the city has no sign of making poles on Broad Street harder to scale.
Philadelphia Eagles fans in New Orleans will get a taste of Broad Street should they choose to revel on Bourbon Street Sunday. But those Broad Street partiers may experience a less-slippy time.
» READ MORE: Follow live coverage of the Eagles' Super Bowl celebration here
Some French Quarter properties have greased their iconic poles and balcony support beams as the city braces for the Philly fandom, according to fan and news reports.
Any pole greasing was done by property owners and is not an official city action, said the New Orleans Police Department Sunday.
» READ MORE: French Quarter poles are ‘quite old,’ New Orleans police say ahead of the Super Bowl. Don’t topple them.
Still, New Orleans police have warned that they would not look away from any pole climbing, especially in a place like the historic French Quarter.
”Regarding climbing streetlight poles, that is not only illegal (trespassing) but is unsafe as many of the streetlight poles in the French Quarter are quite old,” spokesperson Barry Fletcher said in an email last month. “Climbing on them risks toppling the light pole.”
Fletcher said climbers can be criminally charged and forced to pay for the damage.
But no poles seemed to be greased on South Broad Street Sunday, and with less than three hours to go before kick off to the Super Bowl, there was no sign Philadelphia officials planned to grease them.
By evening, some poles were greased, however, near Frankford and Cottman Avenues in Northeast Philadelphia, another popular location for victory celebrations.
The Broad Street decision breaks with a practice dating back to the Phillies’ 2009 World Series run, when police first greased the poles with Crisco to discourage people from climbing them. Philly sports fans climb utility poles and sign poles after a big win as part of a long-standing but very dangerous tradition. During the Eagles’ 2018 Super Bowl-winning run, the city switched to using hydraulic fluid as a lubricant, but some fans were still able to scale the fixtures.
Prior to big wins, city officials greased the poles, including during the Eagles 2023 Super Bowl run. But the city, under Mayor Cherelle L. Parker’s administration, did not grease the poles in advance of the Eagles’ NFC championship win last month.
Dozens, if not hundreds, of people climbed poles in celebration that night, with multiple people often scaling a single pole at once.
Temple University freshman Tyler Sabapathy, 18, an accomplished gymnast, fell from a pole at 15th and Market Streets and died as a result of his injuries. During a news conference last week, Parker urged fans not to climb poles but declined to say if they would be greased.
The city and some Center City businesses did take precautions in advance of a potential win though. The Portal at LOVE Park — a video art installation that connects people in different countries — was covered with a blue plastic tarp, which means the world will not get to see how we celebrate a win. Metal barriers were also spotted around LOVE Park, City Hall, and the Municipal Services Building.
The Capital Grille at Broad and Chestnut Streets put plywood over its windows and doors and the Ritz-Carlton, also at Broad and Chestnut Streets removed its awning, which collapsed under the weight of Eagles fans who stood on top of it following the team’s 2018 Super Bowl win.
Staff writer Michelle Myers contributed to this article.