That doesn’t sound like anything with which I am familiar. What makes you think they were Jewish? What did the garb look like?
If they were Hassidim or Lubavitcher, they’d have had peyot (those curly sideburns), and have been wearing black suits with white shirts, and wide brimmed hats. For those sects, yarmulkes are are only visible indoors. This also goes for the rebbi (learned leaders) of the communities, although they’d also have bushy, sometimes unkempt, beards. Orthodox and some Conservative Jews wear yarmulkes indoors and out, and otherwise dress “normally”. Reform Jews and Reconstructionists (sometimes called “Jews for Jesus”) do not have any distinguishing garb outside of synagogue.