RED BANK: SINKHOLE OPENS ON BROAD
A sinkhole opened on Broad Street in downtown Red Bank Monday night, caused a parked vehicle to sink about a foot.
RED BANK: STREATERIES ON HOLD
Borough workers created a streatery outside Bombay River and Tacoholics restaurants on Broad Street in July, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
At the Red Bank council’s first in-person session in more than two years last week, a lone member failed to advance a pandemic-era fix said to be favored by two merchant organizations: street eateries.
RED BANK: ZIPPRICH DERIDES ‘SMEAR’ WAR
Councilman Ed Zipprich, right, with then-Councilman Erik Yngstrom at a workshop session in March, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Councilman Ed Zipprich has been “exonerated” after a two-year “smear campaign” meant to “dehumanize” him, he said in a statement to redbankgreen Thursday.
Zipprich’s statement came in response to special attorney’s finding that he did not “interfere” in the award of a trash collection contract two years ago.
RED BANK: GETTING A JUMP ON THE HOLIDAY
A fox dashed across Madison Avenue in Red Bank at the sight of an approaching bicyclist Friday morning. Or was our foxy friend simply getting an early jump on the Memorial Day weekend?
The unofficial start of summer will bring warm-to-hot temperatures and ample sunshine Sunday and Monday, according to the National Weather Service. Check out the extended forecast below. (Video by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: ZIPPRICH CONDUCT ‘NOT UNLAWFUL’
Councilman Ed Zipprich, right, with Councilman Michael Ballard in February. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Councilman Ed Zipprich did not “interfere” in the award of a trash collection contract two years ago, according to an unreleased report obtained by redbankgreen.
Special attorney Scott Salmon’s report also says “there is evidence to suggest” that former business administrator Ziad Shehady was the the anonymous source of internal emails about Zipprich that were leaked to redbankgreen.
FAIR HAVEN: TWO FAMILIES LOSE HOMES IN FIRE
Fire destroyed a two-family home in Fair Haven Wednesday afternoon.
RED BANK: TEEN ALLEGES RACIAL ATTACK
Raymond Jackson suffered a bone fracture above his eye that will require surgery, his father said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A 16-year-old Red Bank athlete was badly beaten in a racially charged attack in Oceanport Saturday night, he told redbankgreen.
Police, however, say they have found no racial motivation in the alleged assault, which remains under investigation.
RED BANK: BUDGET INTRO ON AGENDA
The mayor and council meet at borough hall for their first in-person session in 26 months Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A budget for 2022 is on the agenda when the Red Bank mayor and council hold their first in-person meeting since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday night.
The session is also the first to simultaneously employ technology allowing participation from home.
RED BANK: HOUSING GRANTS AVAILABLE
Press release from the Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation
The Red Bank Affordable Housing Corporation offers substantial grants to qualified first-time homebuyers, as well as to homeowners and renters seeking to improve their dwellings.
RED BANK: RIVERCENTER TAPS DOWNTOWN PRO
Bob Zuckerman has run business-promotion organizations in South Orange, where he’s now an elected official, and Westfield. (Photo by Matt Glass. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A downtown-management professional with extensive experience in New York and New Jersey has been tapped to run Red Bank RiverCenter, the organization announced Thursday.
Bob Zuckerman replaces Glenn Carter, the onetime borough planning director who served as RiverCenter’s executive for less than a year prior to his retirement earlier this year.
RED BANK: TORRES DEBUTS NEW RESTAURANT
Juanito’s Charcoal Grill features outdoor seating with colorful murals on either side. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
It was going to be a laundromat. Think: droning appliances, fluorescent lighting and the cloying scent of fabric softener perfuming a stretch of Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank.
Luckily for Red Bank-area lovers of food and immersive atmosphere, Juan Torres changed his plans. And on Saturday, the serial entrepreneur will debut his newest creation: Juanito’s Charcoal Grill, a restaurant that’s a volcanic eruption of colors, aromas and flavors, inside and out.
RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN INCHES AHEAD
The house at the northwest corner of Oakland and Pearl Streets would be refurbished for rental as an affordable unit, if approved. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The developer of a proposed 45-apartment project in Red Bank would satisfy part of his affordable housing obligation by restoring a house previously targeted for demolition, representatives told the zoning board Thursday night.
It’s the latest change to a plan that’s been inching its way through the review process for nearly three years.
RED BANK: BOARD SIDES WITH PUB OVER HPC
The Dublin House Pub’s plan called for the enclosure of the existing porch and balconies. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Dublin House Pub should be allowed to make cosmetic changes previously rejected by the borough Historic Preservation Commission, the zoning board ruled Thursday night.
RED BANK: BALLARD AND PORTMAN TO FACE OFF
The two contenders for mayor in Red Bank’s June 7 Democratic primary have agreed to a virtual debate.
RED BANK: HYBRID SESSIONS TO BEGIN
A sampling of screen grabs from council sessions since April, 2020. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After 26 months of sequestration in ‘Hollywood Squares’-style boxes, the Red Bank council has scheduled an in-person session for next week.
But participation-from-home, a format adopted to minimize transmission the COVID-19 virus, will continue, the borough administration announced Wednesday.
RED BANK: ELECTED OFFICIALS QUIZZED
Marlboro Mayor John Hornick, in highlighted pane, was among the five municipal officials from two counties interviewed about forms of government by the Red Bank Charter Study Commission Tuesday night.
RED BANK: SCHOOL CITED FOR ‘CHARACTER’
The Red Bank Charter School was one of 50 schools nationwide named as a ‘School of Character’ for 2022 by character.org.
RED BANK: FORTUNE TO HONOR PARKERS
Fortune Center Executive Director Gilda Rogers in the newly designated Parker Family Legacy Room. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A new, permanent exhibit opening this month at the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center in Red Bank pays tribute to three African-American men of medicine who played vital roles in the community.
The unveiling also marks another milestone for the three-year-old center, housed in the onetime home of an influential journalist and civil rights advocate.
RED BANK: DEVELOPMENT REVIEW TO RESUME
An elevation showing the Monmouth Street side of Michael Salerno’s proposed mixed-used project, looking west. (Rendering by SOME Architects. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A Red Bank development first proposed in late 2019 is scheduled to return to the zoning board Thursday night.
Also on the agenda: an appeal by the Dublin House Pub. More →
RED BANK: BROADWALK PANEL FORMED
Navigating sidewalks on Broad Street in downtown Red Bank is a bit of a challenge these days.
What’s the latest on the streetscape project that’s been underway since November in the streets northernmost blocks? Read on.
RED BANK: ADMIN SEARCH TO BE REVIVED
Chief and interim Business Administrator Darren McConnell with Senior Center Director Jackie Reynolds last October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See Correction below
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council will try again to find a full-time borough administrator, following an abandoned effort of year ago.
The search will be revived even as the governing body, sharply divided on numerous other issues, appears to agree that police Chief Darren McConnell is doing a faultless job in double duty as interim administrator.
RED BANK: ASSAULT REPORT ‘INACCURATE’
By JOHN T. WARD
A heavy police presence in the area of River Road in Red Bank late Tuesday was prompted by an unfounded report of an armed assault, police Chief Darren McConnell said Wednesday.
RED BANK: CONTRACT, ADMIN JOB ON AGENDA
More than three years after it was closed by a catastrophic leak, the borough Senior Center is about to get repairs. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council is scheduled to award a contract to repair the Senior Center, and to discuss a possible new search for a borough administrator, when it holds back-to-back workshop and regular meetings Wednesday night.
Here are some highlights from the agendas:
RED BANK: AUDIT LED TO YASSIN CHARGES
Students and teachers digging into the primary school garden funded by the Red Bank Education Foundation last month. (Red Bank Borough Schools photo. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
A “housekeeping” audit led to criminal charges, disclosed Monday, that former Red Bank councilman Hazim Yassin stole $7,650 from the Red Bank Borough Education Foundation, its president told redbankgreen.
RED BANK: YASSIN CHARGED WITH THEFT
Then-Councilman Hazim Yassin at a Red Bank Education Foundation fundraiser at the Red Bank Elks Club in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Former Red Bank Councilman Hazim Yassin has been charged with stealing more than $7,600 from the Red Bank Borough Education Foundation, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office said Monday.
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