Perhaps there was some logic to installing a pedestrian crossing switch in the middle of a sidewalk, in front of a senior-living complex no less. Because that’s just what the New Jersey Department Transportation did recently on Riverside Avenue in Red Bank as part of its Route 35 makeover project.
What’s Going On Here? Read on. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
Councilman Michael Ballard, with borough CFO Peter O’Reilly in foreground. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Introduced two weeks ago without a word of comment by elected officials, the 2019 Red Bank budget is scheduled for discussion Wednesday night.
Also on the borough council’s workshop agenda: the resolution of a lawsuit, and a discussion about food trucks.
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank Charter School has hired a new head of school, an administrator whose last job was clouded by calls for her resignation.
Kristen Martello, the former superintendent of the Berlin school district in Camden County, is scheduled to succeed Meredith Pennotti, who guided the Oakland Street institution through its first two decades.
Crime and arrest reports, unedited, as provided by the Fair Haven Police Department for the month of April, 2019. For additional information, please scroll to the bottom of this post.
04/02- A Lake Ave resident reported that an unknown actor(s) fraudulently purchased several thousand dollars’ worth of watches utilizing her credit card. Ptl. Brook Robinson took the fraud report.
Ingrid Garcia says this video she recorded shows Little Silver GOP Chairman Stuart Van Winkle harassing her and her husband in their shop. (Video by Ingrid Garcia. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The mom-and-pop owners of a Little Silver auto detailing shop say they have come under attack by supporters of Mayor Bob Neff in recent days for supporting his challenger in next week’s Republican primary election.
Exhibit A, they say, is a video showing them in a tense confrontation last Thursday with local GOP Chairman Stuart Van Winkle.
Crime and arrest reports, unedited, as provided by the Shrewsbury Police Department for the period of May 4 to May 24, 2019. For additional information, please scroll to the bottom of this post.
CRIMES
Report of Burglary in the area of Shrewsbury Avenue on 5/6/19. Victim reports unknown subject(s) gained access to building and removed property [three vehicles from an auto dealership]. Damages totaling $169,373.00. Ptl. Daniel DeCristofaro investigating.
Residents of all 35 units at the Element will have access to the deck, and five will have balconies that immediately adjoin it. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Finalizing a development process that began a dozen years ago, a new 35-unit apartment building made its debut in downtown Red Bank Wednesday.
The near-completion of the Element, built on a former rubble-strewn West Front Street lot, marks the end of an odyssey that included a market pivot and pitched battles at the borough council.
Mayor Bob Neff was the sole mayoral candidate at the event at Markham Place School. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
His campaign signs may be everywhere in town, but the challenger in Little Silver’s first mayoral primary in memory was a no-show at the Republican candidates’ forum Tuesday night.
Rick Brandt’s absence occurred less than a week after he was banned from school property for events at which children are present over his unauthorized use of photos, redbankgreen has learned.
Plywood covered the broken door early Tuesday morning. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Seven years after it was the target of a smash-and-grab burglary, a Red Bank jewelry shop was hit again Monday, police said.
A car took out a utility pole on Spring Street in Red Bank early Tuesday morning, landing its driver in legal trouble. (Photo by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank’s Memorial Day Parade, a onetime tradition that halted an indeterminate number of years ago, was back in full force Monday.
Under fabulously sunny skies, the Parks & Rec-organized event saw a stableful of therapy horses leading the way up Broad Street from Irving Place to the Veteran’s Monument on Monmouth Street. There, a short ceremony in commemoration of military victims of foreign wars was held.
Enjoy the 50-photo slideshow from both events below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
The building at 21 Broad Street has been vacant since Agostino Antiques moved out in 2012. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
One of downtown Red Bank’s largest buildings would be converted to a food market and speakeasy if a pending proposal passes muster with town zoners.
Also in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn report: a women’s clothing store opens, two vacancies open up, and a building changes hands for the fourth time in 11 years.
Dozens of supporters gathered on the front lawn for the opening of the T. Thomas Fortune Cultural Center. Below, a view of the ceremony from inside the restored house. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
More than a century after the departure of its most famous resident, the T. Thomas Fortune House in Red Bank reopened Thursday as a cultural center dedicated to his mission of advancing civil and human rights.
The Red Bank council meeting Wednesday night began with an ending: a sendoff for Risa Clay, who’s retiring this summer as principal of Red Bank Regional High School.
Rick Brandt during an interview in January. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Already under suspension by the volunteer fire department for improper use of photos in his campaign, the Republican challenger for mayor in Little Silver is in another flap over photos, this time with the school district.
Rick Brandt, who’s up against incumbent Mayor Bob Neff in the GOP primary next month, has also drawn the ire of the organization that manages the town’s most historic property.
New classroom space and other facilities, shown in blue, would be built on a vacant lot adjoining the Sickles School, said Superintendent Sean McNeil, below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven residents would get classrooms to allow for full-day kindergarten as well as improved security under a $15.6 million plan officials unveiled Wednesday.
The typical homeowner would also get a tax increase of as much as $566 per year if a public referendum on the plan passes muster with voters in September.
News boxes outside the Post Office on Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s borough council is expected to introduce an ordinance Wednesday requiring alternate-side parking throughout town.
Also on the agenda: a law to regulate news racks, and honors for an educator who is retiring.
Heavy construction equipment began tearing up one end of White Street in Red Bank Monday morning. What’s Going On Here? Read on.
The accident occurred near the intersection of Navesink Avenue and Ridge Road/Hartshorne Lane. (Google Map. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A Red Bank woman — a daughter of a former Riverview Medical Center president — and her boyfriend were killed in a motorcycle crash in Rumson Saturday evening, authorities said Monday.
Flashing beacons to help pedestrians cross Shrewsbury Avenue would be installed at Locust Avenue, above, and two other intersections. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Shrewsbury Avenue in Red Bank will get $1 million worth of pedestrian-safety and streetscape upgrades under a grant award announced Friday.
New streetlamps are also to be installed along the roadway, where dozens of existing fixtures have been out of commission for years.
Peak temperatures on the Greater Red Bank Green will reach into the mid-80s Monday under a slight threat of rain, according to the National Weather Service.
The outlook for rest of the week looks more comfortable. Check out the extended forecast below. (Click to enlarge.)
Strings students at the Count Basie Center’s Monmouth Conservatory of Music gathered last weekend to pay a final farewell to Westeros with a student-and-instructor performance of the theme to HBO’s “Game Of Thrones.”
Sean McNeil, center, with fellow superintendents Brent MacConnell of Shrewsbury, left, and Red Bank’s Jared Rumage at a school funding discussion in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven’s two-school district plans to hold a facilities bond referendum in September, Superintendent Sean McNeil announced earlier this week.
How much spending does the board hope to win approval for? How will the funds be used? Stay tuned, says McNeil.
The long-vacant former home of Fameabilia will get one additional floor instead of two under the approval. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Downtown Red Bank may soon be home to another microbrewery.
Matawan restaurateur Florin Lupu won zoning board approval Thursday night for his plan to build one on Monmouth Street after volunteering to lop one story off a proposed two-story addition.
A rendering of the Riverside Avenue side of the multiuse project proposed for the former Visiting Nurse Association headquarters site. (Plan by Dynamic Engineering. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
What could be the largest development project in Red Bank history would put 210 living units and more on a 2.7-acre parcel, redbankgreen has learned.
The project proposed by Saxum Real Estate would also include a 326-vehicle parking garage, co-working space and retail or restaurant space, according to a detailed plan filed last month.