Posted on 07/09/2026 6:34:33 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
A generation ago, drunken summers of house parties and spontaneous gatherings earned it the nicknames “Zooport” and “the war zone.”
It was here where NBA star Dennis Rodman threw weekend-long blowouts in the early 2000s, once making his grand entrance for a birthday bash by landing on the beach in a helicopter.
But last weekend’s mayhem, in which thousands descended on the community and more than 400 ended up under arrest, has hit Newport Beach differently, spurring calls for the city leaders to take decisive action. Some residents want the city to consider actions from an earlier era, including limiting how many people can be in the beach zone at one time.
Beach cities have always had a complex relationship with summer crowds.
Newport Beach relies on $1.2 billion in spending from roughly 4 million tourists annually and has worked for more than a decade to revitalize the peninsula, in part to attract visitors. For visitors from inland areas, a trip to the beach offers a relief valve from triple-digit temperatures and is a relatively inexpensive family excursion.
The beaches are supposed to be open to everyone. And some in prime coastal areas are quick to blame out-of-towners when there are problems.
But...
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
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A generation ago, drunken summers of house parties and spontaneous gatherings earned it the nicknames “Zooport” and “the war zone.”
Certainly not when I lived there. It was pretty quiet and an early-to-bed community.
I remember Balboa as a quiet, nice place to visit, the Fun Zone with frozen bananas, pinball games, renting wooden kayaks, etc. Of course this was circa 1960.
Wait til the dem socialists get rid of the police and prisons.
post “No Blacks Allowed” signs on all roads leading to Beaches during holidays...
Viola!! Problems are all solved!!
That will be interesting to see as the CCC prohibits private beaches or any effort to block beach access. That said I expect the town can set limits on parking and block off streets under the guise of traffic control.
It is a shame that a few will ruin it for the millions of families who head to the beach on July 4.
RAISE THE FINES INTO THE HIGH 6 FIGURES & MAKE THEM PAY FOR THEIR MAYHEM.
Four hundred criminally stupid teenagers seems a bit too many.
The chaos was planned.
Sometime over a generation ago, I was in a street fight in front of Charlie’s Chili where 3 jerks jumped the doorman at the restaurant right next to where I was having a much needed chili omelette.
It was clear that the bouncer was getting the crappy end of things, and I was young enough to have platform shoes on, so my buddy and I went out to help him up. Next thing I know, we’re all butts and elbows on the street with a crowd around us.
Back in those days the Newport PD hadn’t heard of community policing, so they arrived and started kicking asses. That was my chance to slip back into the restaurant to finish my omelette.
They don’t try that stuff in Huntington Beach.
Shaquille O’Neal played with Dennis Rodman in 1999 for the Lakers. Shaq said that Rodman never showered after games or practices. Rodman would put his sweaty clothes back on and head straight to the club where he would still be surrounded by supermodels despite smelling like “garbage-truck water”. Rodman showed up late to pregame meetings but would grab 20 plus rebounds per game.
It was the party beach when I was a teen out there in the 1960s.
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