Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.


Our community pillars help us carry out our 100-Year Vision

Check it out

Health and Wellness

Red Bank YMCA

At the heart of the Red Bank community since 1874, our Red Bank Family YMCA is here to support health and well-being for all. We’re a special place where people of all ages, interests and backgrounds gather to grow in spirit, mind and body.

Learn More
organization-banner
organization-banner
10k

RESIDENTS COOL TO SHARMA CHARM PLAN

Sunny1

Sunny’s back in biz, and dialing up the charm.

Sunny Sharma of Best Liquors has his store back online after a brief shutdown for fire code violations.

And he’s gone proactive, trying to cool the anger of neighbors who want him shut down.

He’s got his work cut out for himself.

Sharma tells redbankgreen that he’s asked the owner of the payphones attached to the front of the store to take them out.

He’s installing exterior security cameras on two sides of the corner building to deter loitering and scare off anyone who might want to traffic in drugs or flesh.

He’s posting ‘No Loitering’ signs. He’s asking customers to turn off their car stereos, and they’re complying, he says.

This in addition to the installation of halogen lighting a few months back, plus the firing of a what he says was a wayward employee who saddled him with all kinds of legal problems by selling loose cigarettes and liquor to minors.

The pending charges in municipal court, as well as the repeated complaints by nearby residents, have fueled efforts by the borough itself to shut him down.

But Sharma wants his neighbors to know he’s doing everything he can. He also wants to them to come to him with suggestions for further improvements to cut down on noise, litter and loitering.

Sunny2

“I’m not fighting anybody,” he says. “I’m just doing what my attorney and my friends think is best for me, and what I think is best for me. I’ll do what I can, anything that will resolve this.”

The removal of the pay phones will cost him some income, he says, “but I’m complying with my neighbors’ requests, and now, nobody will have any excuse to be hanging out in front of the store,” he says.

So, will all these measures quell the neighbors’ ire?

Not likely, if you go by comments made Wednesday night at a meeting of the Westside Community Group, at which the store was a topic of discussion.

Krishna Tyler, who lives two doors north of the store, said that, like prior owners, Sharma is only able to do so much, with customers who simply don’t care about the impact they have on the quality of life in the neighborhood.

“They all try their best,” she said, “bit it is just out of their control.”

“Don’t confuse a nice guy with someone who’s trying to leach as many dollars as he can out of this neighborhood,” Leighton Avenue homeowner John Ross told the gathering of about two dozen residents. “If he really was a nice guy, would he really hold this many blocks hostage?”

E-mail this story

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank business owner happier than to hear "I saw your ad on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
RFH CAROLERS BRING HOLIDAY SPIRIT
The Rumson Fair Haven High School Tower Singers sing Jingle Bells and other favorites in front of the former Chase bank on Broad Street on S ...
RED BANK: YES, IT’S STILL COMING
Four years after winning borough approval, Jack Manousos still plans to open a restaurant at 3-5 Broad Street. When? Not ready to disclose, ...
RED BANK: AMID THE BLUE
A rack of small vessels at the Navesink Riverside Residences and Marina added colors to the river’s deep blue, as seen from the Red Ba ...
[GIF] COUNTDOWN TO TREE LIGHTING
The final countown and lighting of Broad Street toward the end of the Holiday Express Concert. GIF below and video right after.
PANORAMA: HOLIDAY EXPRESS CONCERT
Tim McLoone and his Holiday Express band light up the crowd on Broad Street before the annual tree lighting.
THANKSGIVING EVE: WHAT WAS GOING ON
Nothing marks the arrival of Thanksgiving weekend like reacquainting with someone from high school that you hoped to never see again in your ...
RED BANK: YES, RED BANK
Kayaker Carla Fiscella shared this lovely autumn vignette along the Swimming River at Chapin Avenue from last week.
RED BANK BUCKS GIVEAWAY
Red Bank RiverCenter will host a $5,000 Red Bank Bucks Giveaway at Toast City Diner this Saturday. It’s essentially free money, and who do ...
RED BANK: TREE TIME!
This year’s Christmas tree arrived at Riverside Gardens Park in Red Bank Saturday. It will be lit (along with the rest of the downtown) as ...
RED BANK LIBRARY HOLIDAY HOURS
RED BANK CLASSIC 5K RUNNING A DEAL
Red Bank 5K Classic sets 2024 date, with discount registrations starting Friday.
PBA TOY DRIVE BRINGS JOY TO LOCAL KIDS
Help make a kid’s Christmas a bit nicer with a toy donation to the annual Red Bank PBA toy drive.
FUNDRAISERS SUPPORT GLOBAL REFUGEE RELIEF
Fundraisers with the United Nations Refugee agency on Broad Street collecting donations for refugees worldwide, and killing time between cha ...
“PUT IT IN THE WINDOW!”
The King of Rock and Roll was seen hanging in the window of Jack’s Music Shoppe. When asked if there was any reason behind it apart fr ...
RED BANK: WATCH YOUR STEP
The painted sidewalk at 205 Broad Street (featured in a recent Where Have I Seen This) getting a new look today.
HOLIDAY DECORATIONS GOING UP
Jim Bruno of Powerhouse Signworks takes a minute for a photo and a thumbs up while hanging the wreaths and lights in advance of the annual t ...