I have been in Jersey City since I was 10, and so I went to school here (public school) and have lived in various areas and spent a good deal of time out and about at all hours the evening once I was older or when I was younger and being reckless with my friends... One thing I have observed is groups of young people (sometimes male sometimes female or coed) trying to egg someone into a fight.

They wanted you to do something so they could beat you up and laugh about it. They don't care about getting caught, and I've seen it turn into a "game" for people running away from the cops, switching outfits, etc. Getting locked up is street cred for some juveniles, a rite of passage perhaps. They have already decided there is no point in doing something better with their lives because this is literally the world they know and how they choose to communicate.

As usual JC focused a lot of the incoming luxury people over the years and the more recent residents always seem to be upset that the poor people who were displaced still in fact exist and their kids are out of control. I'm not excusing the behavior, just saying this is part of the problem overall when we don't give a shit about people who have less and only focus on the people who have more. The people who have less struggle a lot, work multiple jobs, etc... and these kids who are doing these aggressive or violent actions unfortunately don't see that there is something better for them.

Let the downvoting begin, I realize everyone just wants the aggro gangbanger kids to disappear but it's a deeply systemic problem. If you want it to change, then do some outreach to the local youth and help build healthy mentorships that keep them from feeling hopeless and resorting to petty street crimes and unprovoked violence. I can't think of any other solutions.