Shore towns looking to deter pop-up parties

One community plans to target event planners

By: Jenna Calderon
Asbury Park Press
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... If you're thinking of throwing a pop-up party on the Jersey Sore, local officials have a message for you: don't come here.
..... After thousands descended on towns to revel unsanctioned parties set up on social media, local officials are taking action to stop the parties before they begin. In places like Seaside Heights, Long beach, Asbury Park and Point Pleasant Beach, social media is being monitored and legal action taken against the organizer, according to authorities.
...... Seaside Heights - which was targeted for a party last year [2022] and again this year [2023] om May 5 and 6 and June 17 [2023] - contacted local and state police after coming across their name being advertised in a pop-up flyer about 10 days ago, according to Mayor Anthony Vaz.
..... The town filed a formal complaint, naming Juan Victor Chaname-Millett as the defendant. He is the party organizer who runs the Instagram account rated parties, bigmoneyjuan100, team2lievents he was organizing were called "Project Takeover at Seaside" and "The Linkup at Seaside Pt2."

How pop-up parties came to the Shore

..... Vaz said it all started around four years ago when organizers sued fake names on social media and invited thousands of people to parties without permits. these groups can grow rowdy, and public safety and city resources become a concern.
..... Though they're been targeted two years in a row, Seaside Heights has never had one of these parties come to fruition, said Vaz.
..... "We watch it through our police department and monitor social media every day," he said. "Not just about [the parties], about everything, because the world has changed."
..... When Seaside Heights was found mentioned in an Instagram flyer, the borough contacted police to try to find out the real identity of the organizer, Vaz said.
..... Police determined the person's real name and Vaz said the borough turned to the courts. The judge's orders were the same as last year: [2022] a temporary injunction against the organizer. This means the organizers is required to halt the activity, but has the opportunity to go before Judge Robert E, Brenner on May 3 [2023] and plead their case, should they want to proceed with the event.
..... But Vaz said the organizer already rescinded the invitation on Facebook and Instagram, warning people not to go to Seaside Heights due to the possible repercussions.
..... Long Branch - which has also been targeted recently - was the first to take action through the courts and successfully get an injunction last summer, [2022] according to Long Branch business Administrator Charles Shirley.
..... Before the city attorney decided to try this new tactic, though, Shirley said pop-up panties had gotten out of hand in the past.

Pop-up parties bring many problems

..... In June 2021 and May 2022, thousands of partiers arrived in Long Branch via NJ Transit. Fights broke out, public and private property was damaged and arrest were made, taxing the city's resources.
..... Now the city is kicking precautions up a notch.
..... "We're actively scrubbing the Internet looking for flyers, and when we [find one] we take immediate action on it," Shirley said. "We will take legal action against them."
..... Any individual who tries to promote an event without the required special events permit will be added to a lawsuit, Shirley said. This includes any activity that would impact public safety or city services.
..... Shirley said they're seeing results form the crackdown.
..... "When we go after the new people, we actually have old promoters getting Online telling them to stop [and] shut it down," he said. "It was a tactic that they weren't used to dealing with, and obviously it got to them."
..... In Point Pleasant Beach, Mayor Paul Kanitra said they're faced pop-up parties since the beginning of the pandemic. After on event in 2021, streets were left filled with trash resources were spent and local businesses had been forced to close early due to the upheaval.
..... "It's the complete opposite of a family-freindly atmosphere that I think most towns are looking to provide,: Kanitra said.
..... So when another party invitation began circulating in 2022, they also decided to take the mater to the court, suing the organizer and seeking an injunction, Kanitra said.
..... This year, [2023] they plan to do the same, Kanitra said, after already having identified a pop-up planned in the area.

Asbury Park won't tolerate illegal events

..... Similarly, Asbury Park put out a statement Wednesday [04/26/2023] warning would-be organizers and party-goers that such "illegal" events would not be tolerated.
..... "Any such events will immediate be shut down, and organizers and participants will be charged and arrested as necessary to maintain peace and order," the statement read. "The Asbury Park Police Department will maintain a zero-tolerance approach and will ensure that offenders are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Organizers will also be subject to civil penalties."

Officials don't like these social media posts

..... Vaz said he'd liike, to see changes at the state level, including legislation that would deter these parties with automatic consequences, and better soccial media monitoring.
..... "Social media is good, but it's also have," he said. "It's uncontrollable."
..... Kantra also asked for more preconceptions and countability at the state level for these young adults.
..... "They seem to not fear any kind of authority anymore," he said. "Wehr you have that, they're more embolded to try stuff like this."
..... What bothers Vaz, though, is that if the organizer doesn't show up to the May 3 hearing, they won't face any consequences.
..... "It shouldn't be [like that]." he said"You stated this, these parties and their organizers.
..... Kantira worries about the long-term cost of fighting these parties and their organizers.
..... "Even though towns ... are finding ways to deal with it, it;s cosing us money that we don't have allocated in our budgets, and that's not sustainable," Kantira said.

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