Red Bank’s parks – including Riverside Gardens, above, and Marine Park, right – were off-limits to visitors Wednesday after borough workers erected barricades at their entrances.
Barricades blocked access to Count Basie Fields from Henry Street.
As reported by redbankgreen, the action followed a decision by borough officials to indefinitely close the facilities. The unprecedented move was based on “recent instances of non-compliance with social distancing directives at local parks despite verbal warnings and orders to disperse,” according to a notice posted on the town’s website Tuesday night.
It also followed an executive order signed by Governor Phil Murphy earlier that day declaring all state and county parks and forests closed. He left it to municipalities, however, to decide whether to close theirs.
Comments on the redbankgreen article were largely critical of the move.
Meantime, next door in Fair Haven, there’s no plan to close parks, Councilwoman Susan Sorensen wrote on Facebook Wednesday, after police Chief Joe McGovern reported “great discipline, support and cooperation that our residents and local businesses have shown with regard to social distancing.”
The restrooms and tennis courts at Fair Haven Fields, however, have been shut down indefinitely.
In Little Silver,the parks and trails are open, but all playground equipment, tennis courts and basketball courts are closed, said Mayor Bob Neff. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
