Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Sea Isle

By MADDY VITALE Families who made New Year’s Eve at the former school in Sea Isle City a tradition need not look too far to find other wonderful ways to ring in the new year. They never have to leave Sea Isle. From restaurants to fireworks, the night will be festive, explained Sea Isle Public Information Officer Katherine Custer. “Sea Isle City is always a wonderful place to spend New Year’s Eve,” Custer said Monday. Residents and visitors enjoy all that Sea Isle has to offer over the holiday, year after year, she said. “In addition to wonderful people who call Sea Isle home or their home away from home, we have many visitors who come to enjoy the terrific restaurants that are eager to welcome in patrons and help them enjoy their last meal of 2021,” Custer pointed out. “Sea Isle City is a great place to ring in the new year.” Families will gather to view the fireworks display. Fireworks will light up the sky in Sea Isle. Like other towns, the event was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic gathering restrictions. “We will have the fireworks,” Custer said. The fireworks have been an important and popular attraction over New Year’s Eve in the city for a number of years, Custer said. A fireworks display will begin at 8 p.m. Fireworks will shoot off from the beach at John F. Kennedy Boulevard for about 15 to 20 minutes. Custer said that the city is awaiting confirmation about jitney service for New Year’s Eve. On Wednesday, Dec. 29, there will be information about the service listed on the city’s website, www.visitsicnj.com While there will be plenty to do, in prior years, there was one large event the city hosted at the former school on Park Road. The event, hosted by the city’s Recreation Office, was a 20-year tradition. It was a family-friendly evening filled with food, a DJ, face painting, costumed superheroes and more. The night was capped off with a display on the stage mimicking the famous Times Square event, complete with a simulation of a “ball” dropping from a replica of the Empire State Building. However, due to a broken heating system at the old school, the building was closed and officials said there was not a space large enough elsewhere in town to host the community party for this year's celebration. Custer said the hope is for the community party to be back, but at a new venue, Sea Isle City’s proposed new community center. “We are looking at that returning when the new community center is constructed,” Custer said. New Year's Eve community celebrations, like this one pictured in the former public school, will return in the future, city officials say.