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When Dean LaSasso opened his Italian specialty food venue along Main Street in Asbury Park 13 years ago, it was for the convenient location and the hope that it would help bring progress to the downtown area.

Today, the Dino’s on Main Marketplace owner says the neighborhood is suffering the abuse of weekend bar patrons who have cost him $5,000 in window repair, alone.

“This is my fifth window to break at this place,” he said. “It’s an ongoing thing. They have smashed my flower pots and damaged my car. Just last night there were two guys outside fighting and they kicked over the garbage cans.”

LaSasso said in the past two years he has seen an increase in early twenty-somethings frequenting Asbury Park on the weekends.

Earlier this month he and another gentleman attempted to subdue a brawl outside his eatery but it resulted in his window being smashed, yet again.

“It was a big fight that was escalating into some type of riot,” he said. “How do you not get involved when you see some guy pick up a girl and attempt to hit her? Luckily the police got there quickly.”

The uptick in noise, fights, and disorderly behavior is one the City Council and the Police Department are looking to curtail.

[See Acting Police Chief Plan]

Mayor John Moor said in recent interview that if they have to temporarily turn the downtown into a police state to curtail the behavior, that is what they will do.

“If we have to bring in a county bus to hold disorderly conduct arrests that what I think we should do,” he said. “Maybe if these kids’ parents had to pick them up from the (Monmouth) County Jail it will stop the behavior.”

Asbury Festhalle and Biergarten owner Jennifer Lampert said perhaps other popular bar and restaurants could work together.

At the Lake Avenue venue, security measures were put in place to ensure bartenders were trained on state Alcohol and Beverage Control rules and a security plan including patrol of the perimeter surrounding their immediate neighborhood from Lake to Cookman Avenue.

On Wednesday night Mattison Avenue resident Robert Weiner suggested an increase in disorderly conduct fines.

And, Deputy Mayor Amy Quinn has suggested a shift in zoning to open up the costly ground floor spaces in mixed use buildings to other types of businesses.

In the interim, Quinn said report all cases of disorderly conduct. She said, the report helps determine the amount of needed police patrols.

“The increased number of reports increases the number of patrols needed for the area,” Quinn said.

For LaSasso, the most important measure will be to make young patrons and the venues adhere to strict guidelines.

“I have rights too,” he said. “It’s not just about the drinkers in this town. We don’t want to be chasing away the families. It’s time to tighten the ship.”

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