RED BANK: STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED; SEATING AT BARS & RESTAURANTS BANNED

Customers gathered outside Catch 19 restaurant on Broad Street Sunday afternoon. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

[See clarification below]

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank officials declared a “local state of emergency” Sunday night in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, ordering bars, restaurants and other large facilities to cease operations at the end of the day Monday.

The order effectively cancels the Dublin House Pub’s traditional St. Patrick’s Day celebration, which typically draws large crowds, as in 2015, above. Below, Good Karma Café on East Front Street set up a makeshift counter for takeout-only business. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

With the number of Monmouth County and New Jersey residents affected by the virus on the rise, “it is appropriate and necessary for the Borough of Red Bank to continue being proactive and a leader in its approach to advance social distancing, including preventing large gatherings,” said an announcement posted on the borough website.

The declaration, attributed to Emergency Management Coordinator Tommy Welsh, orders the closing to the public of all bars, restaurants, theaters, gyms and “non-essential places of business with occupancy greater than 25 persons,” effective 11:59 p.m. Monday.

After that, bars and restaurants may not serve patrons on-premise, with food delivery and takeout only permitted. Alcoholic beverage sales by all license holders – including packaged goods liquor stores – must cease at that hour, the order states. [Clarification: Police Chief Darren McConnell says liquor stores will be permitted to sell alcohol, but will be limited to the 25-person occupancy that applies to retail stores.]

Violators may be subject to fines, the order says.

“It is incumbent upon all of us to aggressively mitigate the potential for exposure and further spread” of COVID-19, the announcement said. “We apologize for any inconvenience but the safety of our business community and the public is our main concern.”

The order comes as state governments in Illinois and Ohio ordered shutdowns of bars and restaurants to stop seating and serving customers, and the nation of Ireland asked all pubs to close.

Mayor Pasquale Menna told redbankgreen Sunday night that the borough took the action after efforts to get “voluntary compliance” failed.

Asked if the town was acting in response to continued heavy patronage of downtown restaurants and bars throughout the weekend, Menna said, “that is one fair interpretation.”

With thousands of people coming into town to congregate at restaurants, bars and other businesses, as well as a large medical community that draws in large numbers of patients, the shutdown “has to be brought to the fore,” he said.

“Since the state is not taking any action, it must be taken at the local level,” Menna said, adding that the decision was supported by members of the borough council, as well as “all the professionals” his administration consulted on the issue.

In email and text exchanges with redbankgreen earlier Sunday, several downtown restaurant and bar owners defended keeping their doors open, on the grounds that shutdowns would adversely impact employees who have no other means of income.

Among them was Eugene Devlin, owner of the Dublin House Pub on Monmouth Street.

“This will hurt everyone from cleaners to bartenders and waitresses,” he said. “It’s their only job and most of them live on a week-to-week paycheck.”

Still, he noted, the situation was “fluid.”

The Dublin House is perhaps the largest attraction in town on St. Patrick’s Day, which falls on Tuesday.

“The tough balancing act is reasonable and urgent health concerns versus the financial well being of our over 700 employees,” said Tim McLoone, owner of the Robinson Ale House on Broad Street and other eateries in the region.

Other restaurants, however, already had adopted or were about to implement take-out and delivery services only. Among them: Good Karma Café on East Front Street; Sogo Sushi on Monmouth Street; and Surf Taco on Broad Street.

Here’s the full borough announcement: