Chicago City Wire

Chicago Ald. Brendan Reilly (D-42nd) represents a ward full of taverns, and is well-known to frequent them himself.

Chicago Eater even called him a "regular" at Boss Bar in River North, where he allegedly serves up "drunken tirades...while he "hold(s) court," lecturing constituents and real estate developers summoned to meetings there, according to Chicago lobbyist and radio host Maze Jackson.

So Reilly was opining on a familiar subject when chided "drunk suburban kids" on Sunday for their raucous behavior during and after the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade.

"No thanks to the thousands of drunk suburban kids who used our neighborhoods like a giant toilet bowl," he tweeted. "Never ending cab horns from 1A-5A were a nice touch as well."

During his tenure as 42nd Ward alderman, city alcohol and drinking policies have been a consistent focus of Ald. Reilly's efforts, as opposed to more typical issues like taxes and crime.

Reilly has said he considers alcohol consumption and sales a "privilege" that he allows in his ward, provided one follow Reilly's mandated decorum.

In 2010, he explained that lakefront liquor licenses issued at beach houses across the city could be taken away if Chicagoans didn't behave.

“This is a privilege — not an entitlement,” said Alderman Brendan Reilly.  “And if people abuse that privilege, we can always revoke it.”

In 2014, he personally initiated the revocation of the liquor license of a nightclub that fell out of his favor.

In 2016, he proposed a "crackdown" on party buses and trolleys, which he said serve "large groups of heavily intoxicated individuals."

In 2017, he opposed the opening of a country bar with line dancing in his ward, siding with critics who claimed it would attract a "rowdy, late night crowd."

Last Oct., Reilly introduced a new law that would prohibit new bars in River North, protecting the franchises of his favorite spots, like Boss Bar.