RED BANK: ‘FED UP’ SLATE AIMS FOR OVERHAUL

Mar 31, 2022

Among the slate’s members are, clockwise from top left: Wilson Beebe, Suellen Sims, Kate Triggiano, Nancy Facey-Blackwood, Ben Forest, Kathy Horgan, Boris Kofman and Frank Corrado. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Eighteen “fed up” Democratic party loyalists plan to take on what they call Red Bank’s “exclusionary party machine” in the June primary elections, they said in an announcement early Thursday.

Their goals, they said, are to “bring transparency and end divisiveness” within the organization – and unseat Ed Zipprich as chairman.

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March 31, 2022 - 7:50 am |

RED BANK: FENCE ENCLOSES GALLERIST’S CAR

Mar 29, 2022

A fence erected Monday enclosed a car owned by Kenny Schwartz behind his art gallery. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

In another context, it might be seen as artistic commentary on modern existence: a car boxed in between two buildings and a chainlink fence, and no way out.

But to Red Bank art collector Kenny Schwartz, it’s no ironic statement. His car will need “wings” to escape from his gallery’s backyard after a “heavy handed” move involving a couple of real estate powerhouses, he said Monday.

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March 29, 2022 - 4:00 pm |

RED BANK: MASTER PLAN INPUT SOUGHT

Mar 29, 2022

The borough’s Master Plan consultant has created a website for public input. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Love it? Want to change it?

Red Bank residents and visitors can now weigh in on the borough’s Master Plan update-in-progress.

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March 29, 2022 - 7:00 am |

RED BANK: YMCA FORMS ADVISORY GROUP

Mar 28, 2022

YMCA COO Jennifer Dunn (center) with Red Bank Family Y Advisory Council members (from left) Suzy Dyer, Chris Curcia, Pat Richter and Luigi Laugelli. (YMCA)

The YMCA of Greater Monmouth County has established a new committee of volunteers to help ensure that all area residents can learn, grow, and thrive at the Red Bank Family YMCA, regardless of their ability to pay.

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March 28, 2022 - 10:20 am |

RED BANK: HYBRID SESSIONS PLANNED

Mar 28, 2022

A screen grab from the council’s March 23 session via Zoom. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After two years of meeting on laptop screens, the Red Bank council is moving closer to a return to borough hall, while continuing to offer participation from home.

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March 28, 2022 - 7:55 am |

RED BANK: DISTRACTED DRIVING CRACKDOWN

Mar 25, 2022

Pay attention: that’s the message Red Bank police hope to get across to motorists as they conduct a special distracted-driving enforcement detail in April.

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March 25, 2022 - 6:15 am |

RED BANK: SPARKS FLY YET AGAIN

Mar 24, 2022

A screen grab from Wednesday’s council meeting. (Photo from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)

See UPDATE below

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s mayor and the so-far only contender for his job squared off Wednesday night at yet another contentious borough council meeting.

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March 24, 2022 - 7:57 am |

RED BANK: SPRING FOOD FEST CANCELLED

Mar 23, 2022

A shot from the 2015 edition of the event. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

[See UPDATE below]

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank won’t be hosting the annual International Beer, Wine & Food Festival scheduled for May 15 because of “left-over Covid issues,” the event’s organizer said Tuesday.

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March 23, 2022 - 12:30 pm |

RED BANK: DANNY EASING OUT OF DANNY’S

Mar 22, 2022

Danny Murphy, owner of Danny’s Steakhouse, behind the bar Monday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

From the moment it opened in Red Bank in 1969, what’s now known as Danny’s Steakhouse has been the alter ego of its creator.

By next month, however, restaurateur Danny Murphy will have begun “transitioning out” of the Bridge Avenue establishment he’s run and lived above for more than half a century.

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March 22, 2022 - 4:00 pm |

RED BANK: MIRANDI KEEPS SEAT, FOR NOW

Mar 21, 2022

Angela Mirandi, in black mask, as she was sworn to office by Congressman Frank Pallone outside borough hall February 11. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A Monmouth County court denied a request Monday that Angela Mirandi be temporarily removed from her seat as an appointed member of the Red Bank council.

Superior Court Judge David F. Bauman instead ruled that Mirandi can continue in the post at least until April 8.

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March 21, 2022 - 10:50 am |

RED BANK: LOCALS GATHER FOR UKRAINE

Mar 21, 2022

A Ukraine flag painted on the grass shone in the sun as about 150 Red Bank area residents gathered at Riverside Gardens Park Friday afternoon in support of the victims of Russia’s brutal invasion.

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March 21, 2022 - 7:00 am |

RED BANK: COUNCIL PICKS O’HERN

Mar 18, 2022

Attorney Dan O’Hern with Councilwoman Kathy Horgan at the Mayor’s Ball in 2015. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Reduced by conflicts of interest to half-power, the Red Bank council hired attorney Dan O’Hern Jr. to defend the borough against a lawsuit Friday afternoon.

The selection was formalized at a special council session called in advance of a Monday morning hearing at which a Superior Court judge could oust one council member at the behest of another.

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March 18, 2022 - 5:00 pm |

RED BANK: DENHOLTZ PLANS MASSIVE PROJECT

Mar 18, 2022

Denholtz’s plan would cover several NJ Transit parking lots, as well as company-owned sites. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Denholtz Properties is negotiating to create a massive new development at the Red Bank train station, redbankgreen has learned.

The company’s plan is dependent on the borough designating a swath of sites around the station as redevelopment area, CEO Steve Denholtz said in an interview this week.

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March 18, 2022 - 3:30 pm |

RBR: STUDENTS BOOST BRIDGE OF BOOKS

Mar 18, 2022

National Honor Society members read to young students and gave each a care packages of books. (Click to enlarge.)

Members of the National Honor Society at Red Bank Regional High School recently completed a drive to provide Read Across America care packages to students at Red Bank borough preschools.

The project was “amazing,” said TJ Eyerman, a senior who serves as NHS president. But it also underscored the needs of the Rumson-based Bridge of Books Foundation, he said.

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March 18, 2022 - 7:56 am |

RED BANK: WHO’S THE ‘BOROUGH’ IN LAWSUIT?

Mar 17, 2022

A view of a closed-door Red Bank council executive session in 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

With one Red Bank council member suing two others and the municipal government itself, who gets to be the “borough” in attorney-client discussions?

It’s complicated.

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March 17, 2022 - 4:35 pm |

RED BANK: ‘HISTORIC?’ NO ONE KNOWS WHY

Mar 17, 2022

The office building at 268 Broad Street was erected in 1979.

By JOHN T. WARD

Why was a modern office building that’s not in a historic district required to get Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission approval for planned remodeling work Wednesday night?

The building’s owner didn’t know, and he’s the lawyer for the borough planning board, for which the HPC is an advisory panel.

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March 17, 2022 - 6:30 am |

RED BANK: SIMS CONVICTION UPHELD

Mar 16, 2022

By JOHN T. WARD

The New Jersey Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of Anthony Sims, who was found guilty in the 2014 shooting of a man seated in a car parked in Red Bank.

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March 16, 2022 - 4:35 pm |

RED BANK: MIRANDI DECISION POSTPONED

Mar 16, 2022

Angela Mirandi at her February 11 swearing-in ceremony. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A Monmouth County judge postponed a decision Wednesday on whether Angela Mirandi can retain her seat as an appointed member of the Red Bank council.

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March 16, 2022 - 11:11 am |

RED BANK: SIX WEIGH IN ON CHARTER REVIEW

Mar 16, 2022

By JOHN T. WARD

A half-dozen residents weighed in Tuesday night on Red Bank’s form of government and how people get elected to it.

Among the commenters at a Zoom session of the Charter Study Commission were several who like the idea that council members can make things happen at the department level.

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March 16, 2022 - 7:53 am |

RED BANK: MAKEOVER TO GET HPC REVIEW

Mar 15, 2022

One of downtown Red Bank’s most distinctly modern office buildings is up for a  makeover, according to an application scheduled for review by the Historic Preservation Commission this week.

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March 15, 2022 - 2:25 pm |

RED BANK: ‘NONPARTISAN’ IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Mar 15, 2022

Voters may get to decide in November on a new form of government. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

As the Red Bank Charter Study Commission heads into a public hearing on the first phase of its work Tuesday night, this much is clear: partisan elections are in the crosshairs.

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March 15, 2022 - 7:58 am |

RED BANK: ARTIST’S WORK MOON-BOUND

Mar 14, 2022

‘Circus Summer,’ above, is one of two paintings by Red Bank artist Eileen Kennedy that’s slated to go to the moon this summer.

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March 14, 2022 - 4:20 pm |

RED BANK: FIRE RESCUE VESSEL NEARLY READY

Mar 14, 2022

Red Bank’s volunteer fire department is nearing completion on an overhaul of a multi-use boat it recently obtained for free. But it needs a hand from the public.

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March 14, 2022 - 7:50 am |

RED BANK: WINTER’S LAST GASP?

Mar 14, 2022

Winter briefly reasserted itself on the Greater Red Bank Green Saturday in the form of wind-driven snow that left just a dusting on the ground.

Was that the season’s last gasp as we enter its final week? Spring begins Sunday at 11:33 a.m. Here’s what to expect in the interim, according to the National Weather Service. (Photo by John T. Ward.  Click to enlarge.)

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March 14, 2022 - 5:10 am |

RED BANK: TAYLOR GRILLS ZIPPRICH, BALLARD

Mar 11, 2022

Mark Taylor, center, grilled two sitting councilmen, including Michael Ballard, bottom right. (Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Aggressive questioning of two current council members by a former councilman marked a special session of the Red Bank Charter Study Commission Thursday night.

Appearing as the final witnesses for phase one of the commission’s review, both Ed Zipprich and Michael Ballard defended the borough form of government in place since 1908, and recent changes to shift power away from the town’s unelected administrator.

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March 11, 2022 - 7:58 am |