Amid a boomlet in parklets to help boost Red Bank restaurants, Mayor Pasquale Menna was critical Monday of one eatery’s unauthorized takeover of a public street over the weekend.
In a Facebook post, Menna said 26 West on the Navesink‘s takeover of Boat Club Court was “unilateral,” “not authorized” and “dangerous.”
The West Front Street restaurant’s setup included fake grass, picnic tables, traffic barriers along West Front Street and a fence at the northern edge of its property, though pedestrians could pass through.
Restaurant manager Mikaela Milano could not be reached for immediate comment.
In response to an inquiry about the matter, borough Business Administrator Ziad Shehady sent redbankgreen correspondence between Milano and borough officials in late June. The documents include a July 8 email to Milano informing her that her “application for the area on Boat Club Court is still under review.”
In his post, above right, Menna said the Boat Club Court setup must be removed immediately, and “further violations will be followed up.”
Elsewhere in the downtown district, in an effort to jump-start the economy in the COVID-19 pandemic, the borough has closed off a stretch of Broad Street for “Broadwalk,” a vehicle-free zone for dining and shopping four days a week.
A Sunday shutdown of Monmouth Street for the same purpose has been abandoned as unsuccessful.
And over the weekend, the first of a series of parklets or “streateries” were created outside a handful of restaurants that applied to the borough to convert parking spaces out front to table seating for customers.
Separately, the borough council two weeks ago tabled a move to turn Boat Club Court into a partial one-way.
(Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
