Unless you’re going to the celebration…you may want to avoid the 27th and 28th blocks of J Street.
Ground zero for the party is Centro…a restaurant owned by Randy Paragary.
He says a Saint Patrick’s Day street party in front of a downtown pub inspired him to ask the city for permission to close the streets…and a lane of J Street.
“When we saw that success and how well it worked, we thought ‘well gee, why not expand our Cinco de Mayo event.’ It allows for a larger occupancy and allows us to hire better entertainment to make it more fun.”
Officer Laura Peck is with the Sacramento Police Department. She says they put strict conditions in their street closure permits –
including limiting the number of people who can attend.
“Like in this case they’re authorized to have 3,000 people, they have to have a certain amount of officers in the area during the specified time period. Things of that nature.”
Peck says 11 officers and two sergeants will be on the scene.
This isn’t the first street closure for Paragary. He also threw a New Year’s Eve ball drop in downtown Sacramento on K Street.
Critics say there wasn’t enough security at the New Year’s Eve event.
But Paragary says block parties can help boost business at nearby shops and restaurants as well.