by KYW's Paul Kurtz
Philadelphia's latest Mardi Gras tradition -- a prominent police presence on South Street keeping revelers under control -- continued this year.
Bars were allowed to open at 11am, but at least one manager expressed frustration that they weren\'t allowed to open earlier.
Rich Frank, manager of the bar Fat Tuesday's, pointed out that some bars are allowed to open as early as 6am for other special events such as St. Patrick's Day. But ever since a booze-fueled Mardi Gras riot on South Street in 2001, city officials have kept much tighter control on this area of traditional pre-Lenten revelry.
Frank says where there may have been 80,000 people in the streets in the years leading up to 2001, there were only "about 25 people" on South Street about 11am Tuesday.
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