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Overcast Bayville passes curfew law for the Fourth of July
Bayville residents will be able to sleep soundly this coming Independence Day, following the passage of a new law adding a curfew to the village the night of July 4 and morning of July 5. Residents and members of homeowners associations praised the new law, saying that it would prevent teenagers from outside the community from making a mess of Bayville.
Over the last several years more and more young people have been coming to Bayville’s beaches for July Fourth celebrations, drinking and partying. Last year was particularly bad, with several residents claiming that close to 1,000 kids had swarmed their community.
John Taylor, a trustee of the Pine Island Park Homeowners Association, claimed last year’s July Fourth had been shockingly debaucherous. He and his wife, Pattie Anglin, claimed that kids from all over Long Island had come to the party hearing about it on social media, and showed a complete disregard for the inhabitants of Bayville by leaving large amounts of trash, throwing up on the streets and generally exhibiting loud behavior.
“We asked the kids where they were from, and some were from Hicksville, others from Glen Cove and Massapequa and all over the island, but we couldn’t find anyone from Bayville,” Taylor said. “The next morning all the people in our street went down to the beach and we filled probably 25 big contractor bags full of beer cans that they had just left on the beach.”
“For the past couple of years these kids have been getting totally nuts,” Anglin continued. “There were hundreds and hundreds of them. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
At the first village board meeting following last year’s July Fourth, Taylor and Bill Hoar, the president of the Pine Island Park Homeowners Association, joined with other residents and homeowners associations to argue that something needed to be done.
“We understand that this is typical behavior, underage drinking, some roughhousing on the beach,” Hoar said. “But at this level it’s definitely a threat to the community and our property.”
Bayville already had a precedent for dealing with these kinds of issues — their Halloween curfew.
The village board passed a curfew 10 years ago to increase police presence in the community on Halloween, restricting people under 19 years old from being in public spaces from between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. The village board made an amendment to the rule to include Independence Day as well.
The law also comes with some stiff punishments. Teenagers who violate the curfew could face up to $250 in fines and up to 15 days in jail, although typically they will be given the opportunity to disperse. The Second Precinct from the Nassau County Police Department will be there to keep order.
The amendment was passed at the March 27 meeting of the village board, following a unanimous vote for approval. The mayor of Bayville, Steve Minicozzi, explained that while he and the board members can appreciate that kids will want to hang out and have fun on holidays, the situation has become untenable, and the kids have gotten out of control.
“Last year there were many reports of property damage, destruction of outside furniture, lampposts and things of that nature,” Minicozzi said. “Our Halloween curfew has been successful at preventing these kinds of situations for many years, so it made sense to look to that as a solution.”
Minicozzi said that he and the board will be promoting the new curfew to the youth in and around the community through billboards at the entrance to Bayville, as well as notifying the school district. Minicozzi said that they hoped that by doing this the word would spread through social media that Bayville was no longer the spot for Long Island teenagers to party.
“Obviously the Fourth of July is one of the best holidays to be in Bayville, and we can appreciate that,” he added. “We welcome everyone to come and enjoy sunsets and have a great time, but we just ask that they do it respectfully and they leave town at normal hours.”
