ON THE GREEN: ESCAPING INTO FRESH AIR

It’s a bit incongruous: beautiful spring weather amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has the Greater Red Bank Green, and parts of the world, on near-lockdown.

Of course, Governor Phil Murphy’s “stay-at-home” order issued Saturday allows for socially-distanced outdoor exercise. And a redbankgreen swing through the Greater Green Thursday found plenty of residents taking in the fresh air, including a jogger on Maple Avenue in Red Bank, above.

Check out more photos below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

March 27, 2020 - 12:15 pm | Comments ()

ON THE GREEN: SCENES FROM THE PANDEMIC

Panic? What panic? In the hours before and after Governor Phil Murphy’s “stay-at-home” order issued Saturday, redbankgreen‘s wandering lens found few outward signs of the anxiety that has certainly gripped the Greater Red Bank Green and much of the planet. In fact, an air of serenity pervaded the streets.

Above, a couple passed through the breezeway on East Front Street heading toward Marine Park in Red Bank, while a notice on the door of Jack’s Music Shop announced its closing, as mandated by Murphy’s order.

Check out more photos taken Friday, Saturday and Sunday below. (Photos by John T. Ward and Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)

March 23, 2020 - 9:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: HOPEFUL MESSAGES IN CHALK

Their activities limited by the COVID-19 pandemic and Governor Phil Murphy’s “stay-at-home” order issued Saturday, neighbors on John Street in Red Bank decorated their walks and driveways with art and encouraging messages Sunday.

“A chalk walk is a perfect, socially-distanced way to get out of your house, and gives the kids something fun to do and see,” says resident Kate Mills.

More photos below. (Reader photos. Click to enlarge.)

March 23, 2020 - 7:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: TAKEOUT, ANYONE?

Good Karma Café on East Front Street doing takeout-only business Sunday. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

You need to eat, and restaurants, facing dire prospects during the COVID-19 pandemic, need customers more than ever before.

Downtown promotion agency Red Bank RiverCenter has compiled a list of borough eateries showing which are open for takeout business and which offer delivery.

March 19, 2020 - 3:25 pm | Comments ()

VIRUS IMPACTS: EMPTY STREETS DOWNTOWN

“It’s like 6 o’clock on a Sunday morning,” Brian Benjamin, of Two River Mortgage and Investment, said of downtown Red Bank.

In fact, it was around 9:30 a.m. on a Tuesday, St. Patrick’s Day. Numerous businesses were closed, with no immediate plans to open, given Governor Phil Murphy’s executive order of Monday, mandating far-reaching limits on activity to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

But the New Jersey transit bus to Asbury Park was still running, with a mask-wearing driver at the wheel. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

March 17, 2020 - 10:05 am | Comments ()

VIRUS IMPACTS: QUIET STREETS AT CURFEW

It’s not that no one was out on the streets of the Greater Green Monday night. Around 9 p.m., an hour into a voluntary curfew encouraged by Governor Phil Murphy earlier in the day, one could still see moving cars and the occasional pedestrian or cyclist.

But it was also possible to stand in the middle of Broad Street, above, or Shrewsbury Avenue, below, in Red Bank for long intervals without fear of being run over.

“It’s like the zombie apocalypse,” one pedestrian said of the eerie quiet.

At right, a woman and her cellphone had the No. 1 Chinese restaurant in Fair Haven all to herself. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

March 17, 2020 - 7:45 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED; SEATING AT BARS & RESTAURANTS BANNED

Customers gathered outside Catch 19 restaurant on Broad Street Sunday afternoon. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

[See clarification below]

By JOHN T. WARD

this just in redbankgreen Red Bank officials declared a “local state of emergency” Sunday night in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, ordering bars, restaurants and other large facilities to cease operations at the end of the day Monday.

March 15, 2020 - 8:30 pm | Comments ()

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.

March 6, 2020 - 8:45 am | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: PIZZERIA CLOSING

The building that’s been home to Umberto’s Pizzeria for decades will continue as a restaurant, according to a filing with the borough. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Umberto’s Pizzeria, a Fair Haven stalwart for at least 35 years, is closing at the end of the month, the restaurant announced on its Facebook page earlier this week.

March 4, 2020 - 12:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: HOMEWARES SHOP MOVES RIGHT IN

City Barn/Country Penthouse has opened for business at 19 Monmouth Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Commercial real estate deals rarely happen as quickly as the one that led to Friday’s opening of a new homewares store in downtown Red Bank.

Read all about here in redbankgreen‘s latest edition of Retail Churn.

February 28, 2020 - 2:30 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: HOBBYMASTERS CLOSING

Hobbymasters, a gamers’ paradise for four decades in downtown Red Bank, is calling it quits.

What’s Going On Here? Read on.

February 20, 2020 - 9:20 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: BRUNCH, AND MORE, IN CHURN

Brunch opened last week at 20 Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Eaters have a fresh new option for breakfast and lunch in downtown Red Bank.

Read all about chef Ray Tutella’s venture and other business comings and goings in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

February 11, 2020 - 9:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENT REVIEW BEGINS

An elevation showing the Monmouth Street side of the proposed Salerno project. (Rendering by SOME Architects. Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

[UPDATE: The February 20 hearing for this project has been rescheduled at applicant’s request. No new date yet.]

By JOHN T. WARD

A proposed 59-unit apartment project should be allowed to exceed Red Bank’s height and density limits based on the objectives of the borough’s master plan, its architect testified Thursday night.

February 7, 2020 - 12:00 pm | Comments ()

RED BANK: APARTMENT PLAN UP FOR REVIEW

A rendering of the Monmouth Street side of the project proposed for the Monmouth Street site, below. (Rendering by SOME Architects. Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

On the Red Bank zoning board’s agenda Thursday night: a 59-unit apartment project proposed for the onetime site of Clarence Clemons‘ Big Man’s West rock venue.

Also up for review: a restaurant instead of a laundromat on Shrewsbury Avenue.

February 6, 2020 - 7:20 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SHELL GETS SHOP OK ON THIRD TRY

The car wash at left is to be replaced by a convenience store. (April, 2019 photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After a favorable zoning change last year, Red Bank’s lone Shell station won approval to add a convenience store Monday night.

A neighbor called the proposal “lipstick on a pig.” The planning board’s chairman called it “a better pig.”

February 4, 2020 - 7:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: COUNCIL WRAP

Mayor Pasquale Menna, seen here at the Town Light-up in November, kicked off his pre-council meetups with little advance notice. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

It was another quick night as the Red Bank council held its second regular session of 2020 Wednesday night.

A light agenda saw the governing body wrap up public business in under 30 minutes before going behind closed doors to discuss litigation and a lease.

Here’s a recap.

January 23, 2020 - 9:40 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: CHURNING OUT A THIRD VENTURE

Erica Lieberman and Nick Napoletano in their third Monmouth Street restaurant, called Toss’d. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

red bank, nj, retail, retail churn What’s the secret to surviving as owners in Red Bank’s crowded dining market?

In this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn, a pair of accidental restaurateurs share some insights as they prepare to launch their third concurrent venture in the heart of downtown.

January 10, 2020 - 8:30 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SCAVONE TO LEAVE RIVERCENTER

Jim Scavone, left, with Mayor Pasquale Menna and Visitors Center director Margaret Mass at the opening of RiverCenter’s offices on Broad Street in October, 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Jim Scavone, who led Red Bank RiverCenter for the past six years, is leaving the downtown promotion organization.

He won’t be going far, though: he’s taking a job at Hackensack Meridian Health at Riverview Medical Center, just on the edge of special improvement district he managed.

December 31, 2019 - 9:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: SHELL TO TRY YET AGAIN

The latest plan calls for replacing the car wash, at left above, with a convenience store. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Five months after yanking a plan to add a Dunkin’ coffee shop, the owner of Red Bank ‘s lone Shell station will once again try for a convenience store.

Station owner Waseem Chaudhary’s proposal is the third he’s floated in the past seven years.

December 26, 2019 - 11:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: ROOFTOP DINING PLAN APPROVED

The former home of the Belmonte and, before that, Red, has been vacant for more than two years. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A long-vacant restaurant space in Red Bank won approval for rooftop dining Monday night, despite objections by the board’s chairman.

December 17, 2019 - 7:50 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: ROOFTOP DINING PROPOSED

The new owners of 3-5 Broad Street also own the Proving Ground in Highlands. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

The new owners of the former home of the Belmonte restaurant and nightclub in downtown Red Bank hope to add rooftop dining when they reopen the long-vacant space.

December 16, 2019 - 7:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: DISCOUNT-HUNTING VIA DRONE

Thomas Register pilots a mini drone over a facsimile of Red Bank at Chopper Shopper. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A new business that combines gaming and retail promotion has flown into downtown Red Bank.

This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn has the eye-in-sky scoop.

November 22, 2019 - 8:10 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: COFFEE AND CORDUROY IN CHURN

Now open at 19 East Front Street: Currant, a “coffee bar and general store.” (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Coffee and corduroy shirts, with a side of hair conditioner? As of this week, Red Bank has a new shop with an unusual business model.

Read all about it, plus some additional comings and goings, in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

November 1, 2019 - 10:30 am | Comments ()

FAIR HAVEN: DOTS WHAT WE LIKE… AND DON’T

Residents placed red dots on the names of restaurants they would not want to see open in town. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank nj After a prolonged battle over a Dunkin’ donut shop, Fair Haven residents took an “arts and crafts” approach to starting a new dialogue about fast food Tuesday night.

October 30, 2019 - 8:00 am | Comments ()

RED BANK: RESTAURANTS IN CHURN

Isabel Cortes in her newly rebranded restaurant, the Paradiddle Griddle, formerly Hansel ‘n Griddle. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A Red Bank restaurant has reopened with all-new branding after a four-month interval, while two others have closed in recent days.

Read all about them in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.

October 25, 2019 - 7:15 am | Comments ()

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