Party Crashers: N.J. Bill Would Help Towns Regulate Boozy Bashes

HOBOKEN, NJ — Consider it the legislative equivalent to charging $5 per head at the door to pay the bouncer.

As Hoboken’s annual St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl came and went last weekend – resulting in almost a dozen arrests along the way – a state lawmaker in Hudson County is trying to get legislation passed that would allow cities in New Jersey to regulate boozy bashes held within their borders.

According to Assemblywoman Annette Chaparro, A-3720 would help municipalities like Hoboken to “regulate large social gatherings” that are organized online. In addition, the bill would help towns cover the costs if additional law enforcement or city resources are required to “ensure public safety” on event day.

To help recoup costs, municipal officials would be allowed to charge event organizers a $5 registration fee per expected attendee.

Chaparro said that historically, large events in municipalities were organized in a fashion where the planner would register with their local City Hall for a party in a park, concert, or any other event, since ultimately the event would result in some drain on public resources.

These days, larger events are being organized on the internet without any warning to city officials, Chaparro said.

“We’ve seen large scale events like bar crawls spiral out of control while the city stands by helplessly with no point of contact because the event was created behind the anonymity of the internet,” Chaparro posited. “Our goal is to address the changing societal landscape where these online organized events lack responsible parties and leave the municipalities and its taxpayers on the hook for the costs.”

The bill was released from the Assembly State and Local Government Committee on Jan. 19 and is due for a vote in the General Assembly.

Read the full text of the bill here.

While she didn’t cite any specific event by name, Chaparro pointed to gatherings in the vein of Hoboken’s annual St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl as inspiration for the potential law.

Hoboken police reported 11 arrests during the city’s annual pub crawl this year - formerly known as “LepreCon” - down from 15 in 2016.

Previous incarnations of the annual festival – which is not sponsored by the City of Hoboken – have commonly included arrests for assault and DWI, as well as offenses such as urinating in public, disorderly house parties and disorderly conduct.

Authorities estimated that police officer overtime hours may have cost the city as much as $124,000 for the 2017 St. Patrick's Day celebration, the Hudson Reporter stated.

• See related article: Hoboken St. Patrick’s Pub Crawl: ‘LepreCon’ Arrests Down For 2017

Patch file photo, Hoboken Police Department, 2016

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