NJ Locals React to New Seaside Heights Boardwalk Closing Times

If it's been a while since you've been to Seaside Heights, and you plan on coming to the shore this summer, you'll be met with some new, stringent rules on the boardwalk.

Why Seaside Heights, NJ, Added New Restrictions

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After a weekend of chaos during Memorial Day Weekend this past year, officials have put into place several new restrictions to try and curb rowdy crowds and rowdy teens.

New Curfew and Closing Hours for the Boardwalk

The biggest change you'll see this year is a new curfew and closing hours on the boardwalk. 

The boardwalk now closes at Midnight through 6 AM Sunday through Thursday, and then closes at 1 AM and opens at 6 AM Friday, Saturday, and Federal Holidays.

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What the Boardwalk Closures Are Meant to Do

The closures are to prevent people from gathering on the boardwalk late at night, causing disturbances, and I got to witness this closure firsthand this week. And I'm curious to see if it's really going to work.

Every Wednesday night in the summer, my band Right On! plays at Beachcomber from 9 PM to Midnight.

And this past week, as the clock got closer and closer to Midnight, we could see a stronger police presence building on the boardwalk to start flushing people off the boards once midnight came around.

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What The Seaside Heights, NJ Boardwalk Closures Looked Like To A Local

I will say, as we were offloading our equipment from Beachcomber back into our cars when our set was over, it was eerie to see the boardwalk completely empty.

But walking around the streets of Seaside after midnight was a totally different story.

There were still lots of people wandering around, just instead of it being on the boardwalk, it was in the middle of the street.

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The lines for Steaks Unlimited and The Original Steaks were wrapped around the street since they're one of the few food places still open at that time of night, so it'll be a good summer for them!

Driving my car off the island was also a challenge, as groups of people strolled into the middle of the street without any regard for oncoming traffic.

Seaside Heights Remains a Favorite Beach Town

Now, I do want to mention that Seaside Heights is my favorite beach town, and there really is something magical about spending time on that island. And I'm hoping that these new curfews and rules do have the outcomes that the township wants.

What's really interesting, and I didn't know this until all of these new rules and ordinances took effect, is that the liquor license in Seaside Heights allows bars to remain open until 3 AM, according to Patch.