RED BANK: LATIN-FLAVORED CAFÉ OPENS
Their plans disrupted by the COVID-19 crisis, a longtime Red Bank-area chef and his two sons have opened a restaurant in the Galleria complex on Bridge Avenue. Read More
RED BANK: MENNA ADMITS FOOD TRUCK ERROR
Mayor Pasquale Menna on Locust Avenue in March. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
[See UPDATE below]
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna says he will recuse himself from future discussions of food trucks following questions raised by redbankgreen about work he did for the owner of a proposed site of a mobile eatery.
Menna, a private practice lawyer, did not disclose his connections to the property owner during Wednesday night’s council workshop meeting, when he revived the dormant issue of food trucks. But he said the omission was unintentional.
RED BANK: NEARLY NEW CALLS IT QUITS
After 27 years in business, Janice Brown has closed the Nearly Newly clothing store on Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
After a career as a Pan Am stewardess, Janice Brown found her second act in 1993 as a Red Bank retailer, selling stylish vintage clothing.
But in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Brown has decided to close the shop.
Read all about the end of the Nearly New Shop and other changes downtown in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
RED BANK: PANDEMIC CLAIMS BAKERY
The COVID-19 pandemic has claimed another downtown Red Bank business.
Anthony Campitello, seen above with daughters Cristina, left, and Angie, has shut down Alfonso’s Pastry Shoppe on Broad Street after only 17 months of operation.
RED BANK: SICKLES PLANS AUGUST DEBUT
After more than four years of planning, build-out and delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Sickles Red Bank has an opening date, the family-owned food store announced Wednesday.
FAIR HAVEN: NO DUNKIN’ ON OVER EASY
Over Easy Kitchen plans to open in space vacated by Bike Haven nearly four years ago. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
No angry crowds, no predictions of traffic jams or children being run over by cars.
A restaurant proposed for Fair Haven’s Acme shopping center had a far easier time winning approval Tuesday night than its prospective neighbor, a Dunkin’ coffee shop that divided the town for months.
RED BANK: LANE TO GO ONE-WAY, PARTWAY
Boat Club Court, seen from Union Street, would become a one-way uphill toward West Front Street, but remain a two-way for a short stretch in the other direction. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A steep and narrow road serving Red Bank’s Marine Park and two Navesink River clubs would become a partial one-way street under an ordinance up for consideration by the borough council this week.
RED BANK: RETAIL DAMAGE, BUT HOPE, TOO
Alex Montaperto in Forge, her English Plaza shop, which hasn’t opened though it’s been ready for nine weeks. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
With the dust settling from one of the worst economic blows in American history, the damage to Red Bank’s retail scene is starting to come into focus.
Business shutterings and aborted lease deals are on the rise – no surprise – but there are also a few glimmers of optimism.
Read all about some of the changes downtown in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
FAIR HAVEN: BRUSH GRINDING SITE GRATES
Escorted to the transfer site by police, an 18-wheeler needed more than five minutes of maneuvering to back into the tight space last Friday. (Video by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A brush-grinding and transfer station tucked into a leafy Fair Haven neighborhood has got to go, neighbors say.
Though Fair Haven officials have touted the operation for years as a model of interlocal sharing and an environmental boon, residents call it a “monstrosity” of noise, dust and dangerous truck traffic.
RED BANK: PLAZA DETAILS STILL IN THE WORKS
Monmouth Street between Broad Street and Maple Avenue would become a pedestrian plaza all day on Sundays as part of a recovery plan. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Details for turning two downtown Red Bank streets into part-time dining and shopping plazas hinge largely on pending clarity from Trenton, borough officials said Tuesday.
On a Zoom/conference call with merchants, borough officials said they need information from Governor Phil Murphy on key issues before they can finalize plans for allotting sidewalk and street space among restaurants, retailers and others.
RED BANK: TIFFANY STORE BOARDED UP
The windows on the Tiffany & Co. store in downtown Red Bank were boarded up Tuesday morning. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: TAX SETTLEMENT POSTPONED
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council postponed action Wednesday night on a proposed tax appeal settlement that would slash the assessment on a downtown bank property by almost one-third.
But the delay, requested by Mayor Pasquale Menna, was not motivated by an objection to the terms of the deal, he said.
RED BANK: STREET CLOSINGS FOR DINING OK’D
Broad Street would be closed from the intersection with Front Street, above, to Wallace Street three nights a week under the plan. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two major streets in the heart of downtown Red Bank would be closed to traffic to allow mid-street dining and shopping under action taken by the borough council Wednesday night.
The economic recovery measure needed lightning-fast approval so the business district “can to be ready the second we get the call” from Trenton about expected loosening of COVID-19 restrictions, said Councilwoman Kate Triggiano.
RED BANK: BIG TAX CUT FOR BANK ON AGENDA
The Bank of America branch is identified in the settlement as both tenant and taxpayer at 170 Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A drive-thru bank in downtown Red Bank would get a 32-percent cut in its property tax assessment under a resolution up for consideration by the council Wednesday night.
RED BANK: CORNER BUILDINGS COME DOWN
Under a spray of water to keep dust down, demolition work on several buildings at the corner of East Front Street and Spring Street in Red Bank began Thursday.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
RED BANK: DINING ‘PLAZAS’ ON THE TABLE
Customers dining in the sidewalk seating area of Robinson Ale House on Broad Street in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank officials have formed a committee to “creatively expand outdoor capacity for restaurants and retail sales” as the town embarks on a post-COVID-19 recovery.
One idea the committee is expected to chew over: use of public spaces for outdoor dining.
RED BANK: WHITE STREET DISRUPTION FEARED
Kris Winters says her White Street shop, Cabana 19, was just getting back on its feet from last year’s streetscape disruption when the pandemic hit. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A Red Bank construction project looms large for some business owners as they start to crawl out from under one of the worst economic crises in American history.
They’re pleading for “empathy” as they try to avoid a third consecutive blow in one year.
LITTLE SILVER: PAVING JOB STEAMS AHEAD
A resurfacing of Branch Avenue in Little Silver went full steam ahead Wednesday, despite the fact that it isolates several neighborhoods for hours at a time. (Click to enlarge.)
FAIR HAVEN: DUNKIN’ COMMENTS LESS HEATED
This time a year ago, Fair Haven was a town divided. The issue? Whether to allow a Dunkin’ coffee shop to fill a vacancy in the River Road strip mall anchored by an Acme supermarket. The back-and-forth on the Fair Haven, NJ Facebook page got so nasty that the moderator shut down commenting on the issue.
Well this week, seven months after the planning board approved the shop, the still-empty retail space got its Dunkin’ sign, and the moderator allowed a resumption of comments. So how’d that go?
RED BANK: WILL LONG-CLOSED ‘VAULT’ OPEN?
After seven years of vacancy, the former Smith Barney building at 55 Broad Street in Red Bank had apparently just landed a new tenant. And then: COVID-19.
RED BANK: DEP EXPANDS GARDEN SOIL TESTS
The Red Bank community garden, which the borough abruptly shut down last August over concern about possible soil contamination, is on the agenda for Wednesday night’s council meeting.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
RED BANK: RIVERCENTER TAPS KIRKPATRICK
Laura Kirkpatrick addressing the Red Bank council Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Laura Kirkpatrick has been named executive director of Red Bank RiverCenter, the semi-autonomous agency that manages the borough’s special improvement district.
RED BANK: BRAKES TAPPED ON METERING PLAN
RiverCenter asked that enforcement of any changes to the parking ordinance be postponed until completion of planned streetscape work on White Street and the adjoining lot. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Facing pushback, Red Bank officials on Wednesday slowed a proposal to extend paid parking to 10 p.m.
The plan, first reported by redbankgreen, drew numerous critical comments on Facebook, which several council members alluded to at Wednesday night’s council workshop session.
RED BANK: EXTENDED METERING ON AGENDA
Adding four hours a day of paid parking is among the recommendations of a recent report. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s elected officials are expected to take up a proposal this week to expand paid parking – and enforcement – to 10 p.m.
RED BANK: WORK BEGINS AT RIVERMARK SITE
Work was underway on at least one of two long-vacant buildings abutting the Red Bank Public Library Monday. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
What’s Going On Here? Read on.