It was mischief night, and packs of kids moved across Centre Avenue, Front Street, even Paterson Plank Road – kids from 6 to 16 headed toward the center of town. All of them were armed to the teeth with cartons of eggs, shaving cream, bars of soap and other symbolic paraphernalia of the yearly ritual.
Witnesses to the mass movement claimed there were hundreds of kids let loose through Secaucus, yet remarkably, unlike in past years, these packs of kids did not leave a swath of destruction in place. For the most part, car windshields did not get soaped over, and storefronts and homes did not get bashed with a bombardment of eggs. These groups apparently did not want to waste their ammunition on such petty targets, holding back for the ultimate battle scene each kid envisioned at the ice rink in Buchmuller Park.
Some of the kids got impatient, exchanging fire at the sight of rivals when various groups reached the Plaza section of town, shaving cream scars showing along the Acme Parking lot and growing steadily more intense the nearer they came to the ice rink. In the darkness behind the library, one group ambushed another, sending eggs and shaving cream flying. But for the most part, the kids held back, waiting for the moment when they entered the fray inside the ice rink.
“This is real cool,” said soap-covered Matthew Pagano, who had gone inside once, but apparently ran out of materials.
Pagano was part of a group of kids who exchanged mock blows with soap-filled socks outside, along the paths of the park. It was a hilarious comedy of errors, this kid pushing that kid, all of the kids covered so much by soap it was difficult to tell one from the other.
Mohammed Fahny said he was thrilled to be there. All seemed to agree with the town’s idea to allow kids to conduct their acts of mischief in a controlled space.
“I’m having a great time,” Fahny said, smearing the soap from his face as he tried to clear his eyes while being jostled by Adam Esciruch and Chris Caruso.
A somewhat shy Jose Silva – also covered in shaving cream – said he was having a great time.
The scene inside the ice rink, of course, was pure pandemonium, hundreds of kids rushing here and there over the open space, spraying each other with soap, hitting each other over the head with soap-filled socks. Some smeared soap-laden graffiti onto the Plexiglas hockey shields along the boundaries of what normally served as a space for ice hockey. On a wooden platform, a DJ played records and sound effects, giving the controlled madness a soundtrack. Children snuck up on others, struck and fled, pursued by their laughing victims to exchange soap suds elsewhere in the space.
From beyond the glass and near the safety zone of the rink’s front door, adults looked on – relatively unscathed by the attack except by rare accident.
Recreation Director John Voli, Deputy Mayor John Reilly, and Councilman Fred Constantino were among those who roved through the madness to make certain no one got hurt and that everything remained in fun.
“This is really what we wanted to do here,” Reilly struggled to say, his voice lost to the echoes of perpetual laughing.
The town developed the concept of a controlled Mischief Night several years ago, hoping to keep kids safe and to reduce the massive amount of vandalism that usually took place on the night before Halloween each year.
Although the name varies from place to place, the night before Halloween has been a traditional night when kids often conduct campaign of mischief, which includes throwing eggs, soaping car windows and battling each other with socks loaded with flour. To better control this, the town offers sessions in the ice rink where kids can get this out of their system in a controlled environment.
Town administrator Anthony Iacono, who said about 350 kids too part in the event this year, understood how much a part of local culture Mischief Night is.
“We don’t want to take that away from the kids, but we would like to provide a controlled atmosphere,” Iacono said. “This is something similar to what many towns are doing for high school prom nights. Instead of having kids go to New York or to the shore to drink, the schools hold an event that will keep them busy.”