Pittsburgh says Penguins parade drew 650K, but estimate not 'scientific'
Pittsburgh officials estimated that 650,000 people — more than twice the city's population — showed up for Wednesday's Stanley Cup victory parade for the Penguins, but they cautioned the number is nothing more than a good guess.
City Operations Chief Guy Costa, who did the counting, characterized it as a “good estimate” based on the estimated 400,000 people who attended the Penguins' victory parade last year.
“It wasn't scientific,” Costa said. “This year, we had a longer parade route and we had people in Point State Park. We had far more people than we had ever before for a parade in the city.”
Last year, the parade ended at Stanwix Street and the park was not used for a fan rally.
“Some people might say there were more than 650,000,” Costa said. “It's a good estimate.”
But it's not one that Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich would make.
Hissrich was erroneously included as one of the estimators in a statement released by Mayor Bill Peduto's Office. Public Safety spokeswoman Sonya Toler later clarified.
“Director Hissrich's name should not have been attributed to that number,” she said. “The Public Safety Department has no way of estimating attendance at large events.”
People across the country in recent years have questioned the accuracy of crowd-size estimates for public events.
Last year, Chicago estimated that 5 million people attended the Cubs' World Series victory parade, and Cleveland estimated that 1 million attended a parade for the NBA champion Cavaliers.
Controversy erupted this year over estimates for President Trump's inauguration. Trump spokesman Sean Spicer called it the “largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period, both in person and around the globe.”
He blasted the media for reporting that it was smaller than the number who showed up for President Obama's 2009 inauguration.
Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 412-765-2312, bbauder@tribweb.com or via Twitter @bobbauder.
