TOMS RIVER, NJ – An Ortley Beach resident was visibly upset after hundreds of teenagers visited the small seaside community of Normandy Beach.
“There were literally two to three hundred kids along Ocean Terrace,” the resident told the township council.
The resident said the teens were unruly, pulling down street signs and blocking traffic at around 11 pm at night. He said he and his neighbors picked up bottles and cans from the beach.
“It’s just the start of a whole other episode of these kids congregating, making noises, vandalism, drinking,” the resident said, asking the town council to reimplement the emergency pandemic curfew.
Councilman Justin Lamb said the township was investigating more patrols on the beach and suggested a curfew should be implemented.
“It did help the past two years,” the resident said.
Council President Kevin Geoghegan said the 2020 and 2021 curfews were tied to Governor Phil Murphy’s extended COVID-19 restrictions. He said, adding a curfew along with the beachfront communities, “Will just move the problem into your neighbor’s backyards.”
“It all works until you bring little Johnny home to his parents, and they’re like, ‘Why are you picking on my kid?'” Geoghegan said. “It’s not an easy task.”
Other residents said the teenagers were drinking and leaving trash throughout the neighborhood. Another complained about the late-night partying, saying they fear there will be a death or drowning.
“Some of them can’t walk because they’re so inebriated,” another resident said.
“It was very scary, we called the police,” another resident said. “We caught girls urinating, it was disgusting. We pay a lot of money down there. Our town is being trashed.”
The names of the homeowners were intentionally not published in this article out of concerns for their safety.