The new vomitorium in Seaside Heights
Seaside Heights officials have unveiled a newly renovated vomitorium, which they say has been expanded to accommodate even more underage drinkers and others who can’t hold their alcohol.
The Jersey Shore borough decided to install several extra troughs and stalls in the vomitorium after the closing of several bars in town that were popular spots to throw up in.
“There’s a reason one place was called Yakety Yak,” Mayor Len Mars said. “But now that it’s gone, we’re hoping visitors and residents alike will feel comfortable purging in our new and improved vomitorium. Plus, it’s easier for our sanitation guys to just truck that stuff out from one spot rather than having to hose it off the boardwalk every morning.”
The old vomitorium, located next to Lucky Leo’s Arcade, was built in 1964, but was closed in 1986 and had fallen into disrepair. Local police said teens often broke into the building to drink.
“They puked in there sometimes, but I don’t think that was their intention going into it,” police chief Larry Knapik said. “This summer we won’t tolerate underage drinking, but if kids have to vomit, there’s a safe place for them to let it all out.”
The air-conditioned vomitorium will be staffed from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. from now until Labor Day weekend, officials said. Users will receive a plastic bib upon entering and a roll of Mentos on exit.
Many Seaside Heights property owners who rent out their homes during the summer season welcomed the vomitorium’s re-opening.
“I remember what it was like in the early ’60s before that place opened for the first time. You couldn’t walk 10 feet in town without stepping in somebody’s upchuck,” longtime resident and landlord Al “Reflux” Garrett said. “In recent years, I’d find vomit at some of my rentals in the microwave, the closet, the dryer. Heck, somebody even tossed his cookies in a safe I had at one place, then changed the darn combination on me.
“Hopefully, now they’ll all go lose their lunch in a more respectable manner.”
