Feet First opens on Monmouth Street, having skated across the Navesink from Middletown. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn: a skateboard shop rolls into downtown Red Bank, a comic book shop relocates, and the pandemic economy claims another handful of stores.
As the weather turned warmer, a jogger on Maple Avenue in Red Bank ran past lingering evidence of the month’s four snowfalls Wednesday.
There’s more sunshine in the forecast for Friday, according to the National Weather Service. But the shortest month of the year concludes on a somewhat rainy note in its final two days Saturday and Sunday.
Check out the extended forecast below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank police arrested a borough man on drug and weapons charges Wednesday, Chief Darren McConnell said Thursday.
The building at Broad Street and East Bergen Place has served as a branch for various banks since 1965. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Redevelopment Agency is looking at a Broad Street bank site as a possible future home for borough government.
Emphasis on “possible.” But the Wells Fargo branch at the corner of East Bergen Place has attributes that may make it “viable,” borough Business Administrator Ziad Shehady said at the agency’s monthly meeting Tuesday.
Ziad Shehady, left, with Ken DeRoberts at the 2018 Mayor’s Ball. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Ziad Shehady resigned as the executive director of the Red Bank Redevelopment Agency Tuesday, saying the position had become a “lightning rod” for criticism and source of distraction from his primary job as borough business administrator.
A video created by a Philadelphia architectural firm shows a vastly expanded Riverview Medical Center campus. (Video by BKT Architects. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Over more than a dozen years of amassing Red Bank real estate, officials at Riverview Medical Center have been silent on an obvious question: what do they plan to do with their growing land bank?
They’re still not saying. But someone went to the expense of hiring an architecture and urban planning firm to come up with blue-sky concept plans for Riverview, redbankgreen has learned. And he just made a killing selling the hospital some real estate.
The prices of vacant lots quadrupled in less than four years when they were sold to Riverview in late December. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The latest addition to Riverview Medical Center’s Red Bank real estate holdings yielded a windfall gain for the seller, redbankgreen has learned.
Why the hospital paid a whopping price for the site remains unanswered.
The council is expected to renew its contract for EMT ambulance services. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s borough council meets Wednesday with a relatively light agenda.
There’s still something missing: promised changes to the public comment protocol.
More snow is coming to the Greater Red Bank Green Monday, but not on the scale of the four snowfalls the area’s seen this snowy month of February.
The fourth snowfall of February left eight or more inches of fluffy crystal on the Greater Red Bank Green Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
The “snow event” still wasn’t quite over early Friday, as a cold mist added to a layer of ice on roadways, as seen on Madison Avenue in Red Bank, above.
Freezing drizzle was expected to continue into mid-morning, with periods of light snow, sleet, freezing rain and rain persisting into the early afternoon, according to the NWS forecast. All that could mean another inch or so to shovel and salt.
Check out the extended forecast below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Crime and arrest reports, unedited, as provided by the Shrewsbury Police Department for the period of January, 2021. For additional information, please scroll to the bottom of this post.
CRIMES
Report of Theft in the area of Shrewsbury Avenue on 1/5/21. Victim reports unknown subject(s) removed property. Ptl. Angel Marrero investigating.
The Greater Red Bank Green is bracing for its fourth snowfall of February Thursday.
Expect a cold but dry day Wednesday, with the storm, named Viola, beginning in earnest after daybreak Thursday. It could drop 3 to 5 inches during the day, according to the National Weather Service. A mix of sleet and snow in the evening may leave another inch or two, with a layer of ice on the ground.
Check out the extended forecast below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Then-candidates Kate Triggiano and Hazim Yassin at the Mayor’s Ball in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
[See UPDATE below]
By JOHN T. WARD
Already showing cracks, the Red Bank Democratic party’s facade ruptured Monday night with the announcement that political newcomers will challenge two incumbents for their council seats.
Days after holding a virtual re-election fundraiser attended by Governor Phil Murphy, Kate Triggiano and Hazim Yassin opted to bypass the local party nomination process controlled by Councilman Ed Zipprich as they seek second terms, saying he’s on a vendetta that “reeks of boss politics.”
The Greater Red Bank may get some icy rain Monday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. The precipitation is expected to change to all rain by evening.
As Monday is President’s Day, government offices, the post office and most schools are closed.
Check out the extended forecast below. (NWS graphic. Click to enlarge.)
Sue Viscomi, right, with Hazim Yassin and Kate Triggiano at borough hall in April, 2018. All three ran for council that year. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A Red Bank board of ed member faced sharp criticism Thursday for a purported racist rendition of the borough business administrator’s name the night before.
But Sue Viscomi vehemently denied referring to Ziad Shehady as “Mr. Jihad.”
Councilwoman Kate Triggiano, center of bottom row, prevailed on a resolution regarding the Redevelopment Agency. (Zoom screengrab. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Sarcasm and insults flew Wednesday night as the Red Bank council yet again clashed over the future of the mothballed Senior Center.
This time, residents provided much of the ire. Read More
Love snow? The third snowfall of February, 2021 was expected to leave another inch or two on the Greater Red Bank Green before ending around mid-morning Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.
A scene from the second, on Sunday, is shown above: Drs. James Parker Boulevard and Leighton Avenue, with the i Love Red Bank mural on the side of A1 Liquors.
See the extended forecast below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Bruce Springsteen outside the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank in 2014. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Could Bruce Springsteen be in need of a presidential pardon soon?
The rock star was arrested for DWI and other charges at Sandy Hook in November, federal officials confirmed Wednesday.
An app-in-development reported on by redbankgreen last September is now available, offering users its first history tour of Red Bank.
The tour spotlights significant places in the early life of William ‘Count’ Basie, the world-renowned bandleader who grew up in a Mechanic Street house on the site of the one shown above.
The crime and arrest reports below were provided by the Red Bank Police Department for January, 2021. This information is unedited; see below for additional information.
CRIMES
Criminal Mischief: A local store reported a large paver brick was thrown through the front window causing the window to shatter and break sometime during the evening on 01/07/21 in the area of E. Front St. Ptl. Grace Magguilli.
Visitors dining on (and in) Broad Street in June. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
An effort to spark downtown business activity as the pandemic nears its second year is among the items on the Red Bank council’s agenda for Wednesday night.
Part of Buttonwood Drive in Fair Haven was closed to traffic Tuesday as workers in crane buckets worked up in the street’s famed canopy of sycamore trees.
John F. Burton at the Red Bank Mayor’s Ball in 2015. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
John F. Burton, a longtime chronicler of Red Bank-area people, government and more, died Sunday.
The senior reporter for the weekly Two River Times had battled illness for the past three years.
Atrium resident Audrey Haimowitz receiving a vaccine shot Friday. (Photo courtesy of Springpoint Senior Living. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Amid rising numbers of vaccine shots statewide, Monmouth County recorded its 1,200th death from COVID-19, the New Jersey Health Department reported Monday.
The grim milestone was passed as a Red Bank senior facility reported three more pandemic-related fatalities, though all three victims were considered to have recovered from the virus, a representative said.
