POINT PLEASANT BEACH, NJ – It’s not sure at this point whether organizers of two new Jersey Shore popup parties just efforts to troll local communities over last weekend’s breakup of one in Long Branch. Police responded in riot control gear and the city enacted a curfew, making several arrests.
In the aftermath of that incident, shore politicians rose up to propose laws to prevent future parties from disrupting life at the Jersey Shore.
In response, this week flyers for popup parties in Long Branch and Point Pleasant Beach have shown up on social media.
Today is the second anniversary of the death of George Floyd and this weekend celebrations are planned around the country to honor the criminal suspect who it was later determined to have been murdered by police.
Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Paul Kanitra said after last year’s popup party fiasco, he’s not going to let anyone make Point Pleasant Beach ‘a dumping ground’.
Another party is scheduled for June 17th in Long Branch, billed as “Beach Linkup Part 2”. This time women can compete in a twerking contest with a $1,000 grand prize.
In a statement today, Long Branch Public Safety Director Domingos Saldida said the city will respond to future out of control parties in the same manner as last weekend.
“We are already aware of it, the same way we were aware of Saturday’s event well before it happened,” Saldida said. “We, and at the county level, have police officers and detectives who monitor social media. We are already talking to our law enforcement partners across the state and in surrounding towns to assemble the same sort of response that we used Saturday night.”
On Sunday, State Senator Robert Singer called for a probe into the parties.
“This weekend’s incident followed the same script we saw last summer, when hordes of out-of-control teenagers swarmed to the shore,” said Singer (R-30). “This is not a case of getting some people together and going to the shore, it’s an orchestrated criminal act. These are organized incidents, promoted with flyers and posts all over social media calling for people to ‘bring your booze, bring you marijuana, and let’s go to Long Branch.'”
“It’s not even the summer season yet. We’ve got to be ahead of this, and as a shore legislator, I’m asking the Governor for help now,” Singer said. “Every time we have confrontations like this, there’s a risk of people getting hurt. If we don’t take swift action, this problem will get out of hand and threaten to disrupt the vital shore economy at the worst time imaginable.”