Hoboken safety officials prepare for holiday bar crawls this weekend
Hundreds are expected to participate in both "SantaCon" and "Ho Ho Hoboken” on Saturday.
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Public safety officials are preparing for SantaCon bar crawls in Hoboken this Saturday. They say there are twice as many bars participating this year than there were last year.
Hundreds are expected to participate in both "SantaCon" and "Ho Ho Hoboken." Police say crowds have gotten out of hand in years past. So once again public safety is stepping up patrols.
"This year with the combination of SantaCon and a couple other bar crawls that are happening, we’re seeing more participation from the bars, so we started to prepare all public safety divisions to prepare for more than we've seen in past years,” Hoboken Public Safety Director Ken Ferrante told News 12.
He says officers will be on patrol starting early in the morning into the late-night hours. The main thing they want to avoid is driving under the influence. He encourages those who plan on attending to take public transit or utilize rideshare services.
Dozens of officers will be on duty, patrolling the streets from Saturday at 8 a.m. until Sunday at 4 a.m. There will also be three patrolling ambulances on duty and five teams of fire inspectors to monitor occupancy levels at bars and restaurants.
"When you have too many people in a place over the occupancy, that leads to people bumping into each other, spilling drinks, and those are situations that lead to sometimes fights and disorderly behavior,” Ferrante said.
Aside from maintaining occupancy levels, Ferrante e asks participating bars and restaurants to keep an eye on the guests in their establishments.
"We want them to proactively see if they have an overly intoxicated party, stop serving them. If they see a dispute, stop it before it becomes a fight and also we do not tolerate any underage consumption of alcohol,” Ferrante said.
New Jersey Transit has banned the consumption of all beverages while using any of its services on Saturday.
