The fire began in mulch ignited by a discarded cigarette or match at the 12-unit Oakland Square apartments, officials said. The top of a smoking pole is visible at right. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A discarded cigarette or match appears to have ignited a blaze that sent two people to the hospital and left 12 families without a home Sunday morning, officials said.
The Monmouth County SPCA’s annual Dog Walk and Pet Fair returns to Brookdale Community College Saturday.
This weekend marks the return of two more-or-less yearly events to the Lincroft campus of Brookdale Community College — the Monmouth County SPCA Dog Walk and Pet Fair and the Brookdale Guitar Show — both of which had their origins in the generally cooler months and have since relocated to rank among the favorite rites of spring on the Greater Red Bank Green.
Zach Lees of Clean Ocean Action talks about tracking bacteria along storm sewers upland from Red Bank’s Marine Park Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Aided by a trio of specially trained sniffing dogs, environmental detectives have zoomed in on particular locations in three towns that may be at least partly responsible for a recent spike in bacteria levels in the Navesink River, they reported Wednesday night.
At the final Rally for the Navesink event of 2016 organized after a ban on shellfish harvesting from 566 acres of the river last February, a coalition of groups identified specific sites where leaking sanitary sewer lines or septic systems in Red Bank, Fair Haven and Middletown may be contributing bacteria from human waste.
An original-recipe pie fresh from the oven. Carlos Rosas tosses dough for a pizza, below. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Self-styled devotees of Mr. Pizza Slice raised quite an uproar when redbankgreen reported the Red Bank stalwart was under new ownership and — heaven forbid — would be updating both the decor and menu.
The beloved Monmouth Street hole-in-the-wall on has now been refurbished with, among other touches, exposed brick walls that replace cheap paneling, giving the room a cozier feel than the laundromat vibe of its predecessor.
More importantly, new owners Nick Napoletano and Tom Cappello had a fantastic idea when they decided to keep a favorite menu item while bringing in plenty of new ones, including impressive sandwiches and gourmet, New York-style pies.
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The Monmouth SPCA’s Dog Walk and Pet Fair returns to the Brookdale campus Saturday. Local rockers the Wag, below, will be there to set tails a-wag. (Photo below by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Back for its 22nd annual edition — the third since finding a “new leash on life” as a springtime event — the Monmouth County SPCA Dog Walk and Pet Fair commandeers the Lincroft campus of Brookdale Community College for a colorful five-hour festival Saturday.
A benefit for the programs and services of the MCSPCA, the “Paws for a Cause” walk is just the centerpiece of a slate of activities for adults, kids and canines, bolstered by some 100 vendor booths, adoption and microchip clinics, a 50/50 raffle, food trucks, face painting, “pupparazzi” photos, “cutest tricks” contest and even a “Canine PUPtials” wedding chapel.
New head football coach Jerry Schulte at Tuesday’s R-FH board of ed meeting, where his appointment was approved. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Without so much as a murmur from the sparse audience, Rumson-Fair Haven Regional’s board of education named a new football coach Tuesday night — while remaining mum on the ouster of the last one.
Jerry Schulte, who spent the last decade running the defense for the high-achieving Bulldogs, was chosen by the board to replace Bryan Batchler, who was put on administrative leave in December for unexplained reasons and was later removed as coach.
Hot dogs from the cart of Frances Rooney, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
It’s noontime on a gorgeous, late-summer day in beautiful downtown Sea Bright, and PieHole is hungry.
What’s for Lunch? Plenty, and more to choose from every month, it seems, on this back-from-the-brink spit of sand. You’ve got pizza, seafood, Japanese and more, at places ranging from beachware casual to near elegance, all within a one-mile stretch of Ocean Avenue.
But it’s not just food we’re craving. We’re nursing a palpable, please-don’t-ever-end yearning to make this day of blue skies and soft breezes just keep going and going. Sitting down indoors just seems… criminal.
So, hello, Mrs. Rooney.
Having held a Dog Days of Summer monthly event for two summers in a row, borough officials are now contemplating a year-round facility for dogs to play in. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
Should Red Bank establish a place for dogs to play? And if so, where?
And what should become of the borough’s red-clay tennis courts in Marine Park?
Those are among the questions on the table at a meeting scheduled for next week.
Another meeting, scheduled for later this week, concerns crime and community relations.
Canines can meet-and-sniff at Dog Days of Summer events, but some dog lovers would like a facility for daily use. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank bends over – if not quite backwards, but with plastic bags in hand – for dogs, with a monthly street-closing festival for man’s best friend in the dog days of summer. But nowhere in town can a dog owner unleash and let Fido run free.
Not legally, at least.
At least three borough council members and the dog-owning mayor think that’s a situation that needs, um, to be fixed.
The dog and truly artful fries at the Windmill. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)
By JIM WILLIS
Mid-July in Jersey. Is there another time-and-place combo that shouts “hot dog” more loudly?
A sweat-soaked, wiener-wanting PieHole took it over to the Windmill on Bridge Avenue in Red Bank for lunch recently, and the place was jumping.
The Red Bank clay courts during Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012, above. Below, a truck stuck under the West Front Street railroad trestle last week. (Photos by Peter Lindner and Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Tennis enthusiasts pelted the Red Bank council over the lack of progress on rebuilding the town’s cherished clay courts Wednesday night.
At its bimonthly meeting – conducted over the loud hum of temporary air conditioners while the borough hall HVAC system gets an upgrade – the governing body also took up issues ranging from the vexing train trestle on West Front Street to beagle rights.
John Barnes and his pooch, Terry, on Linden Place last week. Below, Terry meets Maggie and her owner, Anthony DeGregorio. (Photo by Sarah Klepner. Click to enlarge)
By SARAH KLEPNER
He’s a Red Bank fixture – if the term applies to a seemingly always-on-the-go nonagenarian in a wheelchair.
Anyone who has spent enough time in the vicinity of Broad Street has probably seen John Barnes matter-of-factly walking his dog from a motorized wheelchair, undeterred by heavy traffic, other dogs or health challenges.
So, how does he manage it?
“It’s hard,” said Barnes, a sharp-eyed, 93-year-old Brooklyn native and World War II veteran. “You gotta work together. You never know what he’s going to do.”
“Jax” the Rescue Dog is on tour to local schools this month in a series of speaking/barking engagements for the Purr’n Pooch Foundation. (Photo by Maryann Small)
The causes range from humanitarian aid for the countless lives affected by the recent disasters in Japan to the rescue of a single dog or cat in need of a home. The funds raised can support the good works of our area’s charitable, cultural and educational entities and the means of “Done Good” support can be as simple as a trip to the library, store or hair salon.
When last we looked in on Small Factory Productions in the paperless pages of redbankgreen, the kid-centric animation studio in Fair Haven (located, in a bit of kartoon-land kismet, at the Acme shopping plaza) had just received an Emmy nomination for its Brooklyn-based public access TV show. This month, Chris Dudick and company have teamed with Monmouth County’s own Purr’n Pooch Foundation in an endeavor designed to teach young children about the humane treatment of animals.
From now through April 14, Monmouth County kids ages 5 to 10 are invited to submit their “creative, original stories and/or drawings” about their favorite animal friend to the Tails of Love Contest and on April 15th, a panel of judges will select eight contest winners, each of whom will receive the chance to create an original animated short film based on their entry. Each winner will also get a DVD copy of the film and appear as special guests during a special movie premiere event at the Purrn Pooch Foundation’s upcoming Paws for a Cause Day at Pier Village in Long Branch (date to be announced).
Take it here for details on how to enter the Tails of Love contest and read more for an April’s worth of Done Good doings.
‘That Hot Dog Man’ Gary Sable sweats another day’s soup production in his tiny Monmouth Street takeout joint.
Let’s get our bias right out on the crumb-littered table: nobody writing about food for large New Jersey audiences is more in tune with his readership than ‘Eat With Pete’ columnist (and Munchmobile maven) Pete Genovese of the Star-Ledger.
Genovese, who’s logged several million odometer miles for columns and books about the oddities and backroads of his home state (and has probably eaten in every one of its diners), brings an average-person approach to approachable food.
Unlike too many food writers, he doesn’t set unattainable ideals of perfection just to knock down a dish or a restaurant for failing to live up to them. He looks for, and often finds, well-made food that satisfies the gut, the brain, and if this is physiologically possible the heart.
He’s also a friend of redbankgreen, so we’re doubly biased, having previously worked at two newspapers with him. But readers who know his byline are, we suspect, willing to forgive our somewhat over-the-top intro to this piece because they know he’s on their side in the never-ending search for good eats.
The point of the foregoing is that when Genovese comes to town to check out the local fare, we take notice.
Today’s installment of ‘Eat with Pete’ does a roundup of great soup joints, and includes Gary Sable’s 175-square-foot takeout spot in downtown Red Bank called That Hot Dog Man.
Canada geese had the run of the fields at Sickles Park in Little Silver in early March.
Columnist Mark Di Ionno of the Star Ledger has a piece today about the use of plywood dog cutouts to keep Canada geese off golf courses and playing fields.
He quotes the groundskeepers of a couple of golf courses who say the silhouette sentries are the most effective method they’ve yet found to scare off the fowl. Among the converts is Matt Dobbie, the course superintendent at Bamm Hollow Country Club in Lincroft.
“You could tell by the droppings that the geese stayed away,” he said. “Wherever there were dogs, we’d see almost none.”
And so the dogs are multiplying, kind of like their nemesis geese. At first, just a couple. Then a couple of dozen. Now hundreds.
Yes, but haven’t we heard this about a dozen times before that someone has hit on a can’t miss method to keep the geese at bay? Doesn’t it seem that the geese always get wise to our tricks?
After almost a quarter-century and countless pints of soup, That Hot Dog Place in Red Bank is about to undergo a ladle handoff.
What’s Going on Here? Read on for the answer.
The alleyway between the Dublin House Pub and a row of shops off Monmouth Street in Red Bank has been quieter than usual at lunchtime lately. Missing is the line of customers that one might see spilling out the door at That Hot Dog Place.
What’s Going on Here? Read on for the answer.
Ten quick questions for Gary Sable, owner and sole employee of That Hot Dog Place, 30 Monmouth Street (next to the Dublin House). Garys 54, married, lives in Hazlet and has two grown daughters.
Did you have another career before you started this business?
Yeah. Before this, I had bar & restaurant in Perth Amboy called The Triangle Café with my brother, Scott, for 23 years. It was a family business. My father bought it in 66, and then he started getting sick. I went in in73, and my brother came in two years later.
The bar business is good when youre young, but once you get past 35, you dont want to be in that business anymore. The hours will kill you. Absolutely kill you.
Kitch Organic on Leighton Avenue, above, is one of eight Red Bank restaurants participating in a monthlong effort to reduce the number of plastic drinking straws that don’t make it into the recycling stream.
Gary Sable wraps up a lunch-to-go order for one of the many customers who wait patiently in line. Below, the 32-ounce Portuguese sausage and kale soup. (Photo by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
Twenty years ago, Red Bank was a veritable desert for takeout food. For this PieHole correspondent, then plying a different trade, there were maybe two or three delis in town to choose from for lunch.
Enter Gary Sable with his unique idea for a quick lunch: of hot dogs to go. Many of us were delighted to have a new option.
That Hot Dog Place, located off Monmouth Street in a little alley next to the Dublin House, was a convenient two-minute walk away, and appreciated, especially when the weather got colder. The only problem with that we soon tired of hot dogs.
One chilly autumn day, we sniffled our way over to Sable’s nook and told him how much we would prefer a hot cup of soup. It took him all of one day to add chicken noodle and tomato basil bisque to his menu. We have been grateful customers ever since.
Soupmeister Gary Sable, right, unveils new additions to this season’s soup lineup for PieHole. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)
By JIM WILLIS
Despite the name, it’s the soups that are the real draw at That Hot Dog Place, the diminutive shop tucked away beside the Dublin House in Red Bank.
With colder weather upon us and a yen for hot, satisfying soup, Piehole headed over to see Soupmeister, Gary Sable
Read all about what Sable’s been cooking up here on PieHole, redbankgreen‘s food page.
Soupmeister Gary Sable unveils new additions to this season’s soup lineup for PieHole. (Photo by Jim Willis. Click to enlarge)
By JIM WILLIS
With colder weather upon us and soup on our minds, PieHole headed over to see Red Bank’s Soupmeister, Gary Sable at That Hot Dog Place.
Despite the name of the diminutive shop, tucked away beside the Dublin House, it’s the soup that’s the real draw, and naturally, this is the time of year when things heat up for Sable. Ever since he opened the place back in 1995, October has marked beginning of soup season.
But as usual, Sable didn’t go cold during the warmer months. He was cooking up some new recipes for this year.
The Metropolitan section of Sunday’s New York Times gave Gary Sable’s 170-square-foot Red Bank takeout eatery, That Hot Dog Place, some love on Sunday. ‘Soupmeister’ Sable, featured by redbankgreen in 2006, was spotlighted in an article about places in the New York region to get a great bowl of soup. (Click to enlarge).
A screen grab of the article posted Friday. (Click to enlarge)
Inside Jersey, the monthly magazine of the Star-Ledger, calls out Red Bank as one of ‘Jersey’s Dining Dozen’ in it’s latest issue.
Calling out eight eateries, writer and Munchmobile maven Peter Genovese says Red Bank offers “the Jersey Shore’s liveliest dining scene outside Atlantic City.”
The recent opening of Lucki Clover, above, in a Broad Street space vacated last September, is seen as one of many indicators of a strengthening comeback. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Without question, the losses have been significant.
Over the past six months, as the global, national and regional economies have struggled to emerge from the wreckage of the 2008 credit meltdown, Red Bank’s retail market has continued to absorb hard-to-shake-off business departures.
Primas Home Cafe. Willy’s Cheesesteaks. Soapmarket. Later this month, Surray Luggage, a Broad Street fixture, will hold a liquidation sale.
But more so than in the recent past, the downtown real estate market has been marked by two noteworthy trends: faster refilling of storefronts, and the end of several key, longtime vacancies.
What’s it all add up to? In a word, recovery, says at least one downtown Churn watcher.