Security video recorded the daytime theft of a white Mercedes from the 7-Eleven at Maple Avenue and West Front Street last August, with the shocked owner giving chase on foot.
By JOHN T. WARD
While towns across New Jersey and beyond grapple with rising numbers of high-priced-vehicle thefts and attempted thefts, local officials are urging residents not to make it easy for perpetrators.
The borough-owned Tesla gets recharged at a station intended for public use. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s borough government is not yet ready to pull the plug on a donated Tesla sedan, even though keeping the vehicle charged up has been a challenge, interim Business Administrator Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.
See UPDATE below
A Shrewsbury man was unhurt as he attempted to stop the theft of his car in downtown Red Bank Tuesday, police said.
Mayo Auto Service owner Pete Soviero outside his Monmouth Street shop last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Denholtz Properties juggernaut continues, with the Red Bank real estate development company about to acquire another key block of sites in town.
Mayo Auto Service owner Pete Soviero has agreed to sell the Monmouth Street property alongside the train station that’s been home to his business for the past 18 years, he confirmed to redbankgreen last week.
But the shop is “not going anywhere” for several years, he said.
The council meeting was the final one scheduled for 2021. (Screenshot from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council’s final regular meeting of 2021 included a new police contract, a plan to recombine workshop and regular sessions, a new used Tesla, and praise for a departing colleague.
Here’s an overview.
Nancy and Phil Blackwood with the car they’ve offered to the town. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A fire-engine red Tesla sedan may become part of the Red Bank municipal fleet this week, pending the acceptance of a proposed donation by a borough couple.
Red Bank Patrolman Stan Balmer and his K9 unit partner Hunter, seen here during a training exercise, helped track down suspects who fled the scene of a crash Thursday evening, police Chief Darren McConnell said Friday.
A pair of videos show a team of thieves stealing of a late-model Mercedes sedan in Red Bank Friday morning.
As seen below, the getaway nearly resulted in a collision with an ambulance.
The proposed luxury car rental showroom would occupy the storefront at 21 East Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Need a Lamborghini for a day? A luxury car club approved for space in downtown Red Bank Thursday night will rent you one for just $1,300 per.
Also OK’d by the zoning board: a personal training gym in a residential neighborhood.
The latest changes to plan for 234-240 Shrewsbury Avenue reduced the building to three stories, from four, shown below. (Renderings by Thomas J. Brennan Architects. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Developer Roger Mumford has again reduced the size of a proposed apartment building on Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank.
Whether the zoning board will hear the details at its July 15 meeting is unclear, however. Also on the ambitious agenda: a mixed-used project next door to the borough library; an “exotic car rental” business in a downtown office building; and a gym on residential property.
Jon Greene during a recent rehearsal. (Photo by Allan Dean. Click to enlarge.)
Getting the members of the Red Bank Area Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society together for practice has not been possible during the pandemic.
And as the group has learned over the the past 13 months, rehearsing via Zoom just doesn’t cut it because of audio latency issues.
So director Craig J. Page found a workaround.
The garage, built in 1983, became the subject of a lease-purchase deal between the town and Riverview 17 years later. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
It’s a mere formality, but Riverview Medical Center is slated to become the owner of Red Bank’s only publicly-owned parking garage Friday.
At its regular meeting Wednesday night, the borough council authorized officials to sign off on a property transfer worked out when the current council president was in middle school.
The deal adds to the nonprofit hospital’s growing portfolio of real estate.
The axle-killing potholes and front-end-scraping dips are gone, and the final touches on a makeover were underway at a key Red Bank intersection Tuesday.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
Red Bank police busted up a car rally in the parking lot of the Molly Pitcher Inn early Sunday afternoon, police Chief Darren McConnell told redbankgreen.
Police determined that the gathering violated Governor Phil Murphy’s March 21 “stay home” executive order barring a wide range of activities, McConnell said.
“The participants were cooperative and left the area without incident,” he said. (Click to enlarge.)
The home of Sanford Auto Body, at the corner of West and Wall streets, will be razed to create parking for the nearby Red Bank Corporate Plaza, the sellers say. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After almost 80 years banging out dents and straightening frames, a Red Bank auto body shop is headed to the scrap heap.
The driver and occupants, if any, of car that caught fire while being driven on Maple Avenue in Red Bank escaped without injury shortly after midnight Tuesday. The vehicle, a Mercedes, was destroyed. Further details weren’t immediately available. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Fair Haven police arrested a Keansburg man on car-burglary charges after a surveillance video caught him trying to sell a stolen item, borough police Chief Joe McGovern reported Monday.
Milo Rainey, 39, is suspected of having entered three vehicles in the area of Harding and Harvard roads on the night of July 9 and 10, McGovern said in a press release.
The intersection of Broad Street and East Bergen Place was racked with potholes Tuesday morning, shortly before a borough crew arrived to do some patching. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
One of Red Bank’s nastiest pothole clusters got a temporary fix Tuesday.
A more permanent one is in the works, borough officials said.
[UPDATE: The zoning board hearing on the Wawa proposal was postponed Thursday at the applicant’s request, and is now scheduled to be held May 3, according to the borough planning office.]
A controversial plan to build a supersized Wawa convenience store and gas station at one of Red Bank’s busiest intersections returns for its third hearing by the borough zoning board Thursday night.
The Auto Exotica site on Newman Springs Road would be redeveloped as a combination WaWa convenience store and gas station if approved by the zoning board. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A supersized convenience store and gas station proposed at one of Red Bank’s busiest intersections is scheduled to go before the borough zoning board Thursday night.
With no residential neighbors directly impacted, the board’s consideration of variances may turn on matters related to traffic impact at a crossing where motorists typically sit for three minutes or more waiting for a green light.
Thinking of going electric with your next car? The Red Bank Environmental Commission plans to host Red Bank Electric Car Day later this month to juice awareness of electric vehicles and other alternatives to fossil-fuel burners.
The seasonal headwear sported by Carl Colmorgen is completely optional as the Red Bank police department seeks to hire several crossing guards.
A merchant we spoke to at the Galleria of Red Bank didn’t know this, so redbankgreen offers this reminder to all would-be shoppers: parking is free in all municipal spots, both on the street and in the lots, through December 25. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
The Investors Bank proposed for River Road would be identical to this branch in Woodbridge, the developer said. (Photo by M&M Realty Partners. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposed drive-thru bank on the site of a former filling station in Fair Haven ran out of gas Tuesday night.
The Investors Bank project encountered continuing objections to a traffic-flow plan that would put two driveways — for an entry and an exit — on River Road, which planning board members said raised child-safety concerns.
Also an issue: the brand-specific look of the one-story building, which called for a shallow glass atrium dome that one resident likened to a “blister.”