Life's a Beach that Closes Two Hours Earlier Now in NJ

Garden State reader Jimmy sends along news from New Jersey, via the AP:

Last call in Seaside Park just got earlier.

The Borough Council approved an ordinance requiring that all establishments that hold liquor licenses close at midnight instead of the current 2 a.m….

Cheryl Raley, who owns a motel here, said the midnight closing law "will be the death sentence for businesses."

But resident Marceline Allen says Seaside Park is a family town that needs a family atmosphere.

More here.

Don't confuse Seaside Park with the adjacent and legendary skeevy town Seaside Heights (said with all reverence and respect!). But here's the Park's demographics, courtesy of Wikipedia:

There were 1,127 households out of which 16.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.3% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.2% were non-families. 38.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

More here.

Read reason's November 2007 cover story by David Harsanyi on the return of prohibition.

Comments

[MadBiker]

I guess Marcelline Allen thinks every family with small kids is up and functional every night until 2 a.m., thus exposing their kids to the drunks stumbling out of bars? Oh yeah, that is why the lil' tikes must be protected from such sights.

I'm not sure I understand this logic of hers re: family atmospheres.

Maybe there will be an upside to this: the less sleazy clientele being kicked out of Park bars will move over to Heights bars and possibly displace the trash that currently frequents that hell-hole of a beach community.

[dhex]

aw scumside heights, how we miss thee.

yeah seaside park is to seaside heights like ocean grove is to asbury park.

that is to say it is not.

[guido]

Sometimes I wonder if I'm reading reason or The Star-Ledger.

[guido]

That's Sleazeside to you, buddy.

[PFJ]

I live right in the area and once had to go to a Seaside Park council meeting for credit in a class. They were talking about closing one of the bars at the meeting. Basically every resident's complain was that drunk people would walk through town and take a piss where ever they wanted. I don't see how closing bars two hours earlier solves that problem.

[robc]

I think 4 AM closing times is more family friendly. People my age can go out to bars, get their drunk on, and are heading home about the time Fratty McFratterson and friends is showing up. If I had a family, I could get home, pay the babysitter and she would still have time to hit the clubs herself. 🙂

Places with earlier closing times end up with overlapping demographics.

[New World Dan]

On a related note, my local sports columnist would like to remind all the rookies at training camp right now that nothing good ever happens at 2am. The bars around here close at 1am and I've never had a problem getting hammered long before midnight.

[Alan Vanneman]

The problem is that the 2 AM pissers are too hung over to make it to the polls. What we need are voting booths in bars, so us hard-drinkin', gun-totin', Internet gamblin' and porno viewin'libertarians will have a chance to be heard. And down with fuckin' eminent domain while we're at it!

[dhex]

That's Sleazeside to you, buddy.

naw, we always called it scumside, but i'm from north jersey where we, you know, wear shoes and, like, read and stuff.

[J sub D]

After listening to all sides of the bar hours argument and giving the issue considerable thought (~1,25 seconds), I've come to the conclusion that legal bar hours shoud be 24/7. I support any lawmaking that moves towards that and oppose any that moves away from it.

Who the hell are you to decide what hours consenting adults conduct their otherwise legal business?

[Matthew]

If it really was a "family town" it would already have a "family atmosphere".

[FatDrunkAndStupid]

PFJ,

It likely puts the bar out of business, which solves the problem quite nicely.

[Taktix?]

38.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Anyone want to guess which of these percentiles have the spare time and high enough level of sheer boredom to attend the town council meetings?

[bill]

I can't wait till those lovely families start getting wiped out by drunk drivers heading to or coming from the next town over, where they went to get their drink on.

[Jon Rowe]

Heh.

My parents live there 1/2 the year. The "nightlife" as far as I have experienced it is with the riff-raff in the heights.

If I go out to Seaside Park for a drink I'll probably be back by 12:00am anyway.

[TrickyVic]

"""my local sports columnist would like to remind all the rookies at training camp right now that nothing good ever happens at 2am"""

I've gotten laid a few times from meeting a girl in a bar after 2am before. So I disagree.

[SkipEU]

What's up with this "family" crap everywhere in the nanny states of America?

I don't understand what night(!) clubs have with family being and enjoying their time together, how topless on the beaches can affect family vacations and even what is connection between legalized prostitution and family atmosphere.

But on the other hand, I am European...