Tattoo and piercing parlors, ice cream shops and restaurants objected, but Wildwood made an overnight Boardwalk closure the law

WILDWOOD — Owners of tattoo and piercing parlors, ice cream shops, arcades, and restaurants pleaded Wednesday for even just another half-hour to keep their shops open late, but Wildwood commissioners adopted a new overnight Boardwalk closure anyway.

“We want businesses to thrive and be busy until 1, 1:30 a.m. even two o’clock in the morning like it used to be,” said David Zarfati, owner of Karma, Gemini, Oxygen and the Rock, crystal, tattoo and piercing shops.

The business owners said Wildwood’s plan to close the Boardwalk between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. would hurt their business and create new safety problems.

“A half hour is a lot of money for us,” said Penny Saab, of Beach Side Ice Cream.

Wildwood’s City Commission — Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., Krista McConnell, and Steve Mikulski — adopted the ordinance over their objections in a unanimous vote Wednesday evening, closing the famously raucous Jersey Shore boardwalk overnight.

McConnell said the commissioners felt they had no choice given recent incidents of large unruly crowds and violence in Wildwood and other resort spots in New Jersey and elsewhere.

“We hope there’s a point where we can roll it back,” she said. “With the way the state of the world seems to be, it’s not something we really feel great about doing, it’s something that’s just necessary at this moment.”

The ordinance had the support of Police Chief Jim Murphy, who said he was convinced the closure was needed “to mitigate this late night crowd related issues.”

Mikulski said the commissioners considered a 2 a.m. closing time, but went with 1 a.m. at the chief’s urging.

Several business owners tried to lobby for 1:30 a.m., but the ordinance was adopted on second reading without any changes.

“We have a lot of concerns, besides the revenue that some of the businesses are going to lose,” Zarfati said after the vote. “That’s just part of it. The other part is what this means to the future of Wildwood.”

Commissioners said there would be no nightly announcement on the Boardwalk, and no routine police enforcement or clearing of people from the Boardwalk.

“If you have customers in there, playing pinball, ordering cheesesteaks, getting a tattoo or ear piercing, we’re not going to say, ‘Hey close these doors,’” Mikulski said. “It’s about preserving the family environment.”

Said Troiano: “The temperament of the Boardwalk is going to dictate. If you have the rowdy crowds, you’ll see enforcement. If the crowds aren’t there, we’re not going to be running up on the Boardwalk. We have more important things to do.”

John DeLong, owner of three Boardwalk restaurants that stay open until 1:30 a.m., and on busy weekends like the Barefoot Country Music Festival, until 2 a.m., called the move “government overreach.”

“I don’t want to take away the privilege of walking along one of the greatest landmarks of our country because of a few bad seeds,” DeLong said. “I can’t imagine the statistics of what occurs between 1 and 5 are more or worse than any crime that happens at other times.”

Other speakers said workers at places like Morey’s Piers typically go for pizza after work, and use the Boardwalk to travel home, as a safer route than along city streets.

Troiano cited incidents of crowds from the last two summers, including two summers ago when the city had to declare a state of emergency to close down its Boardwalk over Memorial Day weekend.

He said times have changed, and that teenagers are presenting a greater problem and in larger numbers in Wildwood and other resort towns.

But speakers noted that some of the more serious crime problems last summer occurred off the boardwalk, like a shooting in a Pacific Avenue parking lot.

The ordinance passed on first reading on April 8 and had a second and final vote Wednesday evening at a meeting of Wildwood City Commissioners.

Troiano noted that Wildwood becomes the third most populous city in New Jersey during the summer, after Newark and Jersey City, and said the city has had trouble hiring enough police to handle the crowds.

Other security measures have included police on horseback, temporary closures, curfews, and bollards at ramp ends. The 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. closure would affect only a very limited number of businesses that have remained open past 1 a.m. on the Boardwalk during the summer.

Resort destinations at the Shore and around the country, from Ocean City, N.J., to Miami Beach, have contended with crowds who coalesce around social media posts and descend on their towns.

The closing would not apply to emergency personnel in the performance of their duties, authorized city employees, contractors, vendors, or others authorized by the city or police.

Signs will be installed along the boardwalk, and enforcement will be the responsibility of the Wildwood Police Department, the city said.