RED BANK: AWFUL INTERSECTION FIXED
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 BUST UP CAR RALLY
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.)
RED BANK: FOURTH-GENERATION BIZ CLOSING
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.
RED BANK: NO INJURIES IN CAR FIRE
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: VIDEO LEADS TO ARREST
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.
RED BANK: BERGEN PLACE MAKEOVER NEARS
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.
RED BANK: ROUND THREE FOR MEGA WAWA
[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.
RED BANK: SUPERSIZED WAWA ON AGENDA
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.
RED BANK: ELECTRIC CAR SHOW SLATED
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.
RED BANK: CROSSING GUARDS NEEDED
The seasonal headwear sported by Carl Colmorgen is completely optional as the Red Bank police department seeks to hire several crossing guards.
RED BANK: FREE HOLIDAY PARKING IN EFFECT
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)
FAIR HAVEN: INVESTORS BANK PLAN STALLS
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.”
FAIR HAVEN: BANK HEARING DELAYED AGAIN
For the second time since it began in May, a hearing on a proposed Investors Savings Bank branch on the former site of a Sunoco station on River Road in Fair Haven has been postponed at the applicant’s request. The matter, scheduled for Monday night, is now slated for July 28.
Meantime, the board is expected to continue its review of the town’s Master Plan, among other matters.
For redbankgreen’s prior coverage of the bank plan, click here. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
SEA BRIGHT: SEASONAL PARKING FEES DEBUT
With the wraps scheduled to come off new kiosks at the start of the Memorial Day weekend Friday, Sea Bright employees got a primer on the internal workings of the machines from a vendor Thursday.
After a threatened lawsuit by local business owners was withdrawn, the borough council earlier this month set a $1-per-hour rate for parking in municipal lots. The fees are imposed summer-only, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
FAIR HAVEN: SKEPTICISM OVER BANK PLAN
An architectural rendering of the bank, proposed for the former site of a Sunoco station. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Like a customer at a balky ATM, a regional bank will have to try again after Fair Haven’s planning board raised numerous objections to a proposed bank branch Tuesday night.
Though the matter didn’t go to a vote, all but one board member cited misgivings about Investors Savings Bank’s plan for a branch on the site of a former River Road filling station.
RED BANK: CRASH VICTIM EXTRICATED
Firefighters in the process of extricating the victim Tuesday. (Reader photo. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A 53-year-old driver was hospitalized after an accident left her trapped in her car Tuesday afternoon, Red Bank police Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.
Catherine Graidl, 53, had to be extricated after her Toyota Corrolla was broadsided on Riverside Avenue at about noon, McConnell said.
FAIR HAVEN: BANK EYES SITE FOR DRIVE-THRU
After a four-year vacancy, the former site of a Sunoco station at River Road and Cedar Avenue in Fair Haven may be getting a new use: Investors Savings Bank hopes to build a branch with a drive-thru there. Read More
RUMSON: IRISH SPIRIT ON PARADE
Bedecked in silly hats and shamrocks, hundreds of residents of the Greater Red Bank Green lined the route of the fourth annual St. Patrick’s Parade in Rumson Sunday. We’ve got dozens of photos, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
MIDDLETOWN: DRIVER ESCAPES CAR FIRE
The lone occupant of a car that caught fire on West Front Street in Middletown Wednesday morning escaped safely. Dr. Adel Ibrahim, a hematologist, told redbankgreen he was enroute to Riverview Medical Center in his daughter’s car when smoke started pouring out from under the hood. He pulled into the parking lot of Chris’ Deli, where the vehicle burst into flame, he said. Volunteer firefighters from Middletown and Red Bank responded to the 8 a.m. alarm. (Photos by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)
RUMSON, FAIR HAVEN: THEFT SPREE ALLEGED
A Red Bank man was indicted Friday for a spending spree financed by credit cards stolen from cars in Rumson and Fair Haven, the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s office said.
Carl W. Bergen, 53, of 59 William Street, broke into four vehicles in the two towns over the course of a year, beginning in May, 2014, according to the 16-count indictment.
LINCROFT: BCC HOSTS AUTO TECH SESSION
Students in Brookdale Community College’s automotive technician program work on a sedan at the college’s Lincroft training facility. (Photos by Brookdale Community College)
Press release from Brookdale Community College.
Residents interested in a career in automotive service and technology are invited to a free information session on the Lincroft campus of Brookdale Community College on Monday, August 24.
Scheduled from 1 to 3 pm, the session will offer attendees a chance to learn about growing career opportunities in the automotive technician field, which is expected to add more than 60,000 new jobs by 2022, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Professionally certified Brookdale instructors will be on hand to discuss the college’s wide range of hands-on automotive training programs, including a two-year degree program offered in partnership with General Motors (GM).
RED BANK: CHURCH CONVERSION COMPLETED
Space beneath the steeple, complete with spiral staircase, is now an office. The new First Church of Christ, Scientist worship space, below, is a fraction of the original size. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s First Church of Christ, Scientist has a new home, just off to the side of its former one, and some new neighbors.
This week, and right on schedule, lawyers, healthcare providers, a ribbon manufacturer and a boudoir photographer started moving into 211 Broad Street, the steepled structure that was a church for 62 years. Read More
RED BANK: WALGREENS NEIGHBORS SEEK HELP
Area residents say they’re concerned about the impact of a new Walgreens on local road safety. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Motorists using a shortcut along the Red Bank-Little Silver border may have to find another workaround to congestion soon.
But not quite as soon as area residents had hoped. The Red Bank council tapped the brakes on itself Wednesday night, when two neighbors of a Walgreens store now under construction said a planned order for new stop signs didn’t go far enough.
RUMSON: VEHICLE SINKS AT BOAT RAMP
[POST UPDATED, 4 p.m.] A Ford Expedition SUV wound up in the Navesink River at the Rumson municipal boat ramp and sank shortly after 1 p.m. Saturday, police said.
Lieutenant Christopher York tells redbankgreen that the idling vehicle “somehow got into gear” and backed into the river with a trailer and inflatable vessel attached. No one was in either the boat or the SUV, he said, and no rescue was required. Borough police are investigating the cause of the accident, York said. State Police Marine Patrol responded, and the Department of Environmental Protection was notified.
Police are not identifying the owner of the vehicle, which was towed out of the river, York said. (Rumson PD photo above, reader photo at right. Click to enlarge)
RED BANK: CAR SHOW DRAWS A CROWD
Beach day or not, the 13th annual Doc Holiday Classic Car Show, hosted in Red Bank’s White Street parking lot by the Liberty Hose fire company as a scholarship fundraiser, was a big draw in Sunday. redbankgreen cruised the circuit, camera at the ready. Click the “read more” and check out dozens more snapshots of gleaming grills and smiling faces. (Photos by Susan Ericson)