The party’s over, now Newport picks up

Deepa Bharath

NEWPORT BEACH -- The morning after the Fourth of July is never a

pleasant one for West Newport residents, especially when record crowds

throng at the beach.

The drunken revelry, the frighteningly large crowds that pack narrow

beachfront streets, and noise from boisterous parties and illegal

fireworks almost always leave these homeowners with a nonalcoholic

hangover and a throbbing headache.

Newport Beach police reported more than 170 arrests this year, a

number only “slightly higher” than last year, said Sgt. Steve Shulman.

Most of the arrests were alcohol-related, he said.

Hundreds of people were slapped with citations for lighting fireworks

while several hundred others were given warnings, Shulman said.

“We did arrest at least two men for lighting bigger explosive

fireworks,” he said.

Shulman said that while there were no major incidents or injuries, the

crowds seemed larger than previous years. In some stray crowd-control

incidents, officers suffered minor injuries, but none of them were

serious, he said.

“There was a lot of drinking, more than usual. And the crowds stayed

later than they normally do,” he added.

Residents who live near the beach said they felt the effect of the

sheer number of visitors. Early Thursday morning, many of them said they

spent hours picking up trash -- broken beer bottles, burned out

firecrackers and paper. Some said they hosed off urine in front of their

homes.

Not a pleasant task, said Kathy Cooper.

“It was a very difficult [July 3] and [July 4] for us,” she said. “The

drinking and fireworks went on day and night. People were urinating on

the street.”

Her neighbor, Nancy Abrams, said she saw 44th Street loaded with

people.

“The police did what they could but they couldn’t control the crowds

because they were in huge numbers,” she said. “People were throwing

fireworks from side to side on my street.

“A lot of us felt like we were a captive audience for these

out-of-control people. We were like prisoners in our own home.”

Abrams said she could not step out of her house for fear of facing the

mob nor could she entertain guests.

Resident Margie Dorney, who heads a West Newport task force that has

been working with police to make Fourth of July more tolerable for the

beach neighborhood, said it was better than last year in some areas but

worse in others.

“I think the cleanup effort has been better this year,” she said.

About 33 city employees used 20 city utility vehicles Wednesday and

picked up about 10 tons of trash from Corona del Mar beach and about 25

tons from city streets, said General Services Director David Niederhaus.

And they continued plugging away into the wee hours of the morning

Thursday, he said.

“We received record levels of trash in all areas of the city this

year,” Niederhaus said. “Usually when the holiday falls midweek, it’s not

this busy. But this year has been really very busy.”

Fortunately, people behaved themselves this year, and there were no

reports of vandalism at the beaches or parks, he said.

Residents said although they feel fortunate there were no serious

incidents, they still feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the occasion.

“Asking the city to impose a curfew is an idea that’s on the back of

our minds,” Dorney said.

But police seem less enthusiastic about the issue.

“A [curfew] requires tremendous resources for us to be able to enforce

it,” Shulman said. “What is the sense in enacting a law if you can’t

enforce it?”

Residents, however, acknowledged that the police did do the best they

could.

“We’re going to continue to work with [the police] in the years to

come,” Dorney said. “We want to keep the dialogue and the planning going.

We want to be proactive about it.”