TRENTON, N.J. – Last week, we reported on local Point Pleasant Beach Mayor Paul Kanitra response to the state’s inaction to help shore towns prevent large urban pop-up parties that disrupt their communities from happening.
In that story, Kanitra mentioned a recent meeting between shore mayors and members of Governor Phil Murphy’s inner circle where those members actually threatened shore mayors not to act unkindly to their town’s rowdy guests.
Murphy’s response to the popup parties wasn’t to provide assistance but to simply tell shore town mayors to watch their rhetoric against the parties. In response, Mayor Kanitra ratcheted up his rhetoric against the parties and the Murphy administration.
“Being nice and politely asking for help has gotten me nowhere with the State of New Jersey In terms of stopping violent and destructive pop up parties from occurring,” Mayor Paul Kanitra said. “It’s time people heard the truth. To my incredible residents and other sane people across the country, I’m asking you to share this video to help Point Pleasant Beach and countless other towns across our state from continually being destroyed and wasting taxpayer dollars. We’ve had enough.”
In a letter to New Jersey Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin, eight Republican lawmakers say Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration is refusing to proactively prevent destructive mobs at local shore towns, because of the rhetoric that strategy supposedly supports. They urged the state’s top law enforcement official to reconsider the reactive response to pop-up parties ahead of rumored ones in Point Pleasant Beach and Long Branch this upcoming weekend.
“With most of the participants in these parties arriving by train and 10 NJ Transit stops at 10 different shore towns in our districts, our communities are uniquely vulnerable to the threat posed by these parties. Yet, when our mayors called upon your office to help, they were warned to watch their rhetoric and told that state resources would be available as incidents occurred,” wrote the legislators. The letter was signed by Sens. Robert Singer and James Holzapfel, Assemblymen Ned Thomson, Sean Kean, Gregory McGuckin and John Catalano, and Assemblywomen Kim Eulner and Marilyn Piperno
According to the New Jersey Assembly Republican caucus, a Long Branch pop-up party on May 21 drew 5,000 people and resulted in more than a dozen arrests, a 9 p.m. curfew, business closures, littered streets and vandalism. In 2021, the city faced a similar situation. In 2020, Point Pleasant Beach was the host city for a pop-up party. In Belmar, pop-up car parties have threatened the safety of neighborhoods as attendees drive recklessly through local streets late at night.
“Now, via social media, partygoers are being encouraged to bring their own weed and liquor to Point Pleasant Beach on June 18 and Long Branch on June 19. Boxing matches and gun violence at these events are also being promoted,” Repubicans said today. “Despite repeated incidents wherein municipalities have faced property damage, ordinance violations, violence, and been forced to pay out exorbitant amounts in overtime for law enforcement officers, your office has taken no meaningful action to put a stop to this established threat to public safety and the welfare of our communities.:”
The legislators implored the AG to be collaborative and proactive while issuing directives that would apply repercussions to the planners, promoters and participants of the pop-up parties.