“An unauthorized race car party” in Newark was the cause of late night noise that kept residents in Bayonne and Jersey City up all night last Saturday, a Newark official told Hudson County View.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

“An unauthorized race car party was held at Ave P and Foundry [Street] on Sept. 8. One arrest was made and 60 motor vehicle summonses were issued,” Newark Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Catherine Adams said in an email.

She sent her remarks yesterday after an inquiry was sent to Newark’s general press office email on Tuesday morning. She did not clarify who was arrested or what the 60 motor vehicle summonses entailed.

Some residents of Society Hill in Jersey City expressed frustration with the situation, which has been ongoing on and off for years.

“This has been going on for at least five years and we hear it in Society Hill regularly. It’s a well-known fact that it is coming from Avenue P and Foundry in Newark and 3 years ago they did issue multiple summonses after repeated complaints. It died down for a while but re-emerged now and then,” said Daniel Beckelman.

“This weekend, it went on from 8 p.m. Saturday until after 8 a.m. Sunday and was obscenely loud, even at 2 a.m. For the first time, Bayonne heard the noises too … despite repeated calls, the Newark police did not seem to show much ambition to stop the noise and tried as usual to pretend we were making it up.”

Beckelman further stated that a smell coming from a factory in the Ironbound section of Newark is another example of the Brick City “being a bad neighbor to Hudson County communities that face Newark Bay.”

Echoing his sentiment was John Flora, a Jersey City teacher who has announced his plans on challenging U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. (D-10) in 2020.

“Residents along the Hackensack Waterfront of Jersey City have been dealing with unwelcome sounds from Newark for years. The Newark PD has been inconsistent with handling our late-night/early morning noise complaints,” Flora stated.

“Sometimes the residents from Society Hill and Droyers Point get through to the police immediately, stopping the sound in a matter of minutes. Other times, the lines are busy, or we are told that there aren’t enough available cars in the area. We are glad that some justice was finally served this past weekend to the ‘Fast and Furious’ type mob that was found on Ave. P and Foundry.”

Flora also suggested that Newark allocate an extra patrol car to the intersection of Avenue P and Foundry Street in the warmer weather months to deter this kind of behavior in the future.