Ocean City is the latest Shore town to crack down on crowds of drunk, rowdy teens, passing an emergency ordinance Thursday in response to gatherings that wreaked havoc this past holiday weekend and last summer. Ocean City beaches will be closed at 8 p.m. and boardwalk bathrooms will close at 10 p.m. Police say they responded to nearly 1,000 incidents during the Memorial Day weekend. Those incidents ranged from underage drinking to vandalism to assault.
The city council approved the restrictions at an emergency session with more ordinances possible over the next few weeks.
“If we don’t have law and order restored in all of our Shore towns, on all of our boardwalks, we are going to have pure chaos. And I’m going to tell you, we are going to lose the gems that we have, not only here in Cape May County but in all of our Shore communities,” said Sen. Michael Testa (R-Cumberland).
“It doesn’t surprise me, Ocean City being what it is, a small dry island,” said Ocean City native Sara Rodriguez. “I don’t necessarily think all of it is necessary. I think that not being able to have a backpack is a little bit silly. I mean, you have people that are going to be getting off of work and having their belongings from the day.”
