Remembering Albany’s St. Patrick’s Day Kegs & Eggs Riot
It was Saturday March 12, 2011, the day of the annual Albany St. Patrick's Day parade. As it happens, it was also a special day on the UAlbany calendar. It was the annual Kegs and Eggs party in the Pine Hills neighborhood. Students from UAlbany and other area colleges been drinking and partying all night long, well into the morning hours of March 12th. A little pre-game action for the parade coming up later that afternoon. Several parties were taking place at student houses all along Hudson Avenue.
What resulted was a day of chaos and mayhem. Appliances, furniture and kegs were being thrown from balconies, vehicles were trampled and (at least attempted to be) overturned, not to mention the amount of property damage.
Police were called to the area of Hudson and Ontario Streets that morning to find several different parties along the street had pretty much converged into one giant full blown rager. When police arrived, they were greeted with flying beer bottles. Eventually they were able to disperse the crowd and get the situation under control, but not after A LOT of damage had already been done.
In the end, over 40 people were arrested. UAlbany would wind up moving its spring break so as to send students home during St. Patrick's week. The city of Albany also shortened the parade route the following year.
Word is Kegs and Eggs still takes place each year, but on a much smaller and less destructive scale.