Officials for a New Jersey beachside city are considering an emergency curfew after a chaotic pop-up gathering involving hundreds of teens and young adults led to fights, disorderly conduct, and a large police response.
The gathering Tuesday night at Long Branch’s Pier Village prompted at least one nearby resort to go into lockdown as crowds ran through the area, climbed on cars, and fought, according to witnesses and city officials. Nearly 140 local and county officers responded to disperse the crowd, resulting in an 8 p.m. curfew and six arrests, mostly for disorderly conduct.
City officials described the incident as an “unauthorized pop-up gathering” that spiraled out of control.
“The City of Long Branch takes these events seriously and will not tolerate conduct that endangers residents, visitors, business owners, or our public safety personnel,” said Long Branch Director of Public Safety Charles Shirley in a statement. “Pop-up gatherings of this nature have repeatedly disrupted Jersey Shore communities, and Long Branch is prepared to act decisively whenever public safety is threatened.”
On Wednesday, police maintained a heavy presence at Pier Village, checking bags and confiscating alcoholic drinks before beachgoers entered the sand.
Navé Murray, who was visiting from Fort Lee, said the actions of some people ruined the experience for others.
“Certain people think they’re having fun when they’re fighting, but it’s really not fun. Now we all getting checked,” Murray said.
Video showed scenes of panic as large crowds ran through the area Tuesday night.
“It was pretty crazy. Really scary,” said Anthony Pizzi, who watched much of the chaos unfold from the nearby resort where he was staying.
He described the wild scene before the hotel went into lockdown.
“It really was a ton of people just screaming, running, people just jumping on top of cars, dancing on top of cars. It was just kind of out of control,” Pizzi said.
Some beachgoers blamed social media for helping organize the large gathering and similar events that can quickly become dangerous.
“Half the time it’s social media. Other times it’s just like a nice day. Everyone wants to get on the beach,” Chris Mullen of Old Bridge said.
“Once one fight jumps off, then a bunch of kids will jump in,” said Vincent Branciforte, of Long Branch.
Officials have not announced when a possible emergency curfew could take effect.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC New York. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC New York journalist edited the article for publication.
