Somewhere along the way, someone discovered that the cobbled streets and ancient banyan trees of the off-beat village of Coconut Grove created just the right atmosphere to make it the hangout for teen-agers -- better even, if you can imagine, than a shopping mall.

But that was until city officials came, saw, and decreed: Enough is enough.

So they sent the troops into Coconut Grove this weekend.

And in came a veritable army of police officers with orders to reclaim the Grove from mobs of high school students who have made the trendy district of shops and sidewalk cafes their domain from Friday night to Sunday afternoon.

"I think they're trying to prepare us for a police state," quipped Joshua Stone, a Grove resident for 15 years who pulls a rickshaw in town on the weekends. "I heard pretty soon they're going to have a police officer in every home in the Grove. This is just a preparedness measure."

Indeed, there were officers everywhere as dusk fell in the Grove. Some were no-nonsense types who took their orders quite seriously. They arrested one young man, for example, for blasting his car stereo two decibels above the limit imposed by the city noise ordinance.

Others, looking hardly older than the teens they were policing, seemed quite reluctant in their task, apologizing to the young women they herded along.

But all in all, it was the kind of weekend that made police officials and Miami City Commissioner Joe Carollo, himself a Grovite, beam with pride.

"This is probably the lowest turnout we've had in the Grove in months," Carollo said as he surveyed the streets just before midnight Friday.

No one knows for sure what triggered teens about two years ago to start pouring into the Grove every weekend; no one even knows how many come.

But one thing is certain: there is no other site in South Florida quite like the Grove. It is the only place where you can find real rickshaw rides, where there are licensed masseurs ready to rub your shoulders right there on the sidewalk (80 cents per minute), where you can buy probably the funkiest sunglasses in the state from street vendors, where people come out of their air-conditioned cars to stroll in the warm summer breeze and window shop under starry skies.

And it is the only place in South Florida where you can find Steve's Ice Cream -- a big drawing card for the teens.

In their enthusiasm to enjoy the charms of the Grove, however, Carollo complained that teen-agers were creating a a mini-Spring Break every weekend, forcing grossly outnumbered police officers to act as little more than baby sitters for youths who drink and use drugs on the streets.

Carollo contends that fighting and rowdyism are growing out of control as teen-age boys in leather pants try to demonstrate their machismo to the contingent of fashionably dressed girls every Friday and Saturday night.

The result has been quite predictable: monied adults were starting to avoid the chaos.

Quadrupling the number of officers only meant there were more "baby sitters" for the teen-agers, Carollo conceded, "but at least there are enough of them to be effective."

For some, the officers were too effective.

H.H. Bredemeier packed up his streetside stand of hand-dipped gold jewelry an hour early Friday night when it became clear he would not do a lot of business this weekend.

"It's slow as hell," Bredemeier complained as he loaded his folding table into his car. "It's absolutely dead. This is ridiculous."

Police kept traffic moving at a steady pace through the narrow streets, usually clogged as boys in fancy sports cars stopped to try to pick up giggling groups of girls.

By keeping the cars constantly moving, the officers made it tough for the so-called "cruisers" hoping to lure young women into their cars.

But pedestrians didn't have it any easier.

"This is a bit much," complained Ali Lonzoff, 15. "We almost got a ticket for standing in the same place for five minutes. A $25 ticket!"

The only traffic jam and mob scene Friday night were caused when a television news crew set up a camera in front the ice cream shop on Main Highway. Unsure what to do about the crowd, given the delicate circumstances, officers radioed back and forth to each other until they decided it would be wiser to wait until the cameras were gone to enforce their orders and disperse the crowd.

Meanwhile, television camera operator Larry Morales was getting a little nervous as excitement pulsed through the growing throng before the live shot.

"Don't wave," he admonished them. "Whatever you do, don't wave or we'll shoot every one of you."

For some teens, it was the only chance they got all night to stand in the same site for more than a few minutes.

They knew it would be this way when they heard news reports of the increased police patrols, but they came anyway because they said this was their Grove and they were not going to be pushed aside.

"They try to scare us off, but as long as there is a Grove there are going to be kids in the Grove," said Jason Snyder, 16.

Snyder and his friends say they come to the Grove every weekend, and never tire of the outing.

"It's always different," explained Eddy Ridge, 17. "You meet different girls. There was Patty and Dianne. Oh, and the two girls in the car." He turns to his friends. "Remember the two girls in the car?" They just smile.

Ali Lonzoff, clad in sneakers and a miniskirt, did her best to explain why she and her 15-year-old friends come to the Grove.

"It's the 'in' place," she said. "It's the place to show off your wardrobe and be fashionable.

"When you come back to school after a weekend and people ask you what you did, you can say, 'I went to the Grove.' It instills a certain sense of awe."

Some merchants are worried that the sense of awe will turn to resentment if the police patrols continue at this rate.

Merchants generally are split in their opinions of the teens. Some say they drive away adults with more money to spend. Other say the young people are what make the Grove a vibrant urban center.

Doreen Locicero, the executive director of the Coconut Grove Chamber of Commerce, is caught somewhere in the middle.

The only thing she knows for sure is that she doesn't like to see the Grove overrun with police officers.

"I hate to think the Grove is going to come under martial law," she said. "That's what they're suggesting."

The officers are just as responsible for driving away adults as the teen- agers, she said, because they spoil the carefree, casual ambiance.

"I hate it," Locicero said. "I hate the atmosphere already created by the police. The worst thing is to have five or six police in riot gear, standing there and sweating."

Locicero said police need to exercise better judgment as to whom to ticket and prod along.

"Maybe this weekend will set an example and shut down some of the drugs, traffic and loitering," she said. "But it's not going to be very pleasant if this goes on very long."

Police officers and Carollo, on the other hand, were quite pleased with their results. They said this was only the beginning.

"So far, we haven't been tested," said Lt. Mike Evans. "It's going to take awhile before people learn if they come here, they're going to have to behave in an acceptable manner."

Their next step: enacting an "anti-cruising" ordinance that would make driving around the Grove three times in a row or more illegal.

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