Chicago Week in Photos: Green River, Election Day & More
From St. Patrick's Day river dyeing and Election Day at Manny's to a West Ridge encampment sweep, Chicago packed a dramatic week into just a few days.
Chicago packed a week’s worth of drama into just a few days, from green river celebrations and election results to a homeless encampment sweep and a City Council showdown over worker wages.
St. Patrick’s Day kicked things off early. Plumbers Local 130 dyed the Chicago River its annual shade of green on March 14, drawing the usual flood of revelers along Wacker Drive. Chicago Police officers spent much of the morning dumping out BORG jugs, the large mixed-drink containers that have become a fixture of the city’s St. Patrick’s Day street scene. The crowds were dense, the cleanup was significant, and the tradition carried on as it has for decades.
Three days later, the political world had its own ritual to observe. Election Day brought candidates and officeholders to Manny’s Cafeteria and Delicatessen in the South Loop, where the tradition of pressing flesh over corned beef sandwiches is as reliable as any campaign stop in Illinois. Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton worked the room, embracing supporters fresh off her Senate primary win. Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs kept it low-key, waiting in line for his sandwich like everyone else. The primary results carried real stakes for the fall. Gov. JB Pritzker will face Darren Bailey again in the general election, a rematch that sets up a familiar contrast between two very different visions of Illinois governance.
That same morning, across town, a far less ceremonial scene played out in West Ridge. City workers cleared the homeless encampment at Legion Park while temperatures stayed brutally cold. Chicago Police officers dragged at least one protester away as crews moved in. The people living at the encampment were left waiting for housing placements that advocates say should have been secured before the sweep, not after. The optics were sharp: while politicians shook hands and grabbed lunch in the South Loop, unhoused residents watched their belongings get cleared in the pre-dawn freeze.
One day later, the City Council made a decision that drew its own sharp response. Aldermen voted to freeze the tipped minimum wage, halting increases that had been scheduled to take effect. Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, had rallied supporters outside City Hall before the vote, framing the freeze as necessary relief for an industry still navigating thin margins. But the vote didn’t land quietly. Ald. Anthony Quezada confronted restaurateur Donnie Madia directly after the council session, a visible sign of how raw the debate over worker pay remains in Chicago. Mayor Brandon Johnson said he plans to veto the freeze, meaning this fight is far from settled.
Against all of that noise, a quieter story emerged from Bucktown. Ian Fugett opened the grand opening headquarters of the pub on March 13, a print-only newspaper operating without a website or digital presence. In a media environment where print closures have become routine, Fugett is betting that readers still want something physical to hold. Early visitors at the new space seemed to agree, browsing the latest edition in what looked like a genuinely welcoming room. Whether the model sustains itself will depend on whether that appetite is real and deep enough to support it, but the opening generated the kind of curiosity that most new media ventures struggle to earn.
The week served as a useful reminder of how much happens in Chicago at any given moment, and how often the festive and the grim run on parallel tracks. The river turns green while an encampment gets swept. Politicians eat corned beef while the City Council cuts wages for workers who bring them their plates. A print newspaper opens while the political class maneuvers for November.
Chicago doesn’t pause for any of it. The city just keeps moving, and the people who live here absorb the contradictions as part of the routine.