Second Day of Belmar's San Gennaro Festival Canceled As A Precaution: Mayor

You'll have to wait until next year to watch the pasta-eating contest at Belmar's San Gennaro Festival.

The second half of the two-day festival was canceled at Police Chief's Andrew Huisman's advice.

“Our chief advised me that we should cancel today and I’m going to take him up on his advice and put public safety first and cancel today,” Doherty told NJ101.5.

Belmar brought in additional police on Saturday and stored all garbage cans inside. But after Saturday night's explosion in the Chelsea section in Manahattan, local low enforcement officials suggested the second day of the popular local celebration be canceled, Doherty said.

The Festival of the Sea in nearby Point Pleasant Beach was canceled on both Saturday and Sunday, after a pipe bomb explosion occurred in Seaside Park, just before a military organization's 5k race was slated to start.

No one was injured in the Seaside Park incident.

The Que By The Sea event in Seaside Heights is still on for today, Borough Administrator Christoper Vaz said Sunday.
Seaside Police Chief Thomas Boyd ordered officers to inspect and clear trash cans, and added police officers to patrol the festival venue, Vaz said.

New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio and Police Commissioner James O'Neill said at a press conference today that there doesn't appear to any connection to the Seaside Park bomb. But he did call the New York incident an intentional act.

The blast in the Chelsea neighborhood injured 29 people, and a suspicious device discovered blocks away was safely removed early Sunday.

“Based on what we know at this hour there is no specific connection to the incident in New Jersey. It is too early to say anything definitive on those questions but there’s no specific evidence of a connection at this point,” the mayor said at a press conference.

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