The empty lot, located next door to the public library, slopes down to the Navesink River. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Months after long-vacant buildings next door to the Red Bank Public Library were demolished, not much progress appears to have occurred on a development plan for the site.
What’s Going On Here? Read on for the latest.
Well, road work IS planned for Reckless Place in Red Bank Monday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to a flashing sign posted near Broad Street Sunday. That in itself should be reason to avoid the one-block street, if possible.
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The body of a missing kayaker was found Friday evening, Fair Haven police Chief Joe McGovern said Saturday.
Choppy waters on the wind-driven Navesink as seen from Grange Avenue in Fair Haven Friday afternoon. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Local emergency personnel were out on the choppy, wind-driven Navesink River following a report of a missing kayaker Friday, according to Fair Haven police Chief Joe McGovern.
The project, with a mid-building garage entry and exit on Shrewsbury Avenue, would replace the two-story building shown below. (Rendering by Michael James Monroe Architect. Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A revised proposal for stores and apartments at a busy Red Bank intersection may get a hearing next week.
The plan, for the northeast corner of Shrewsbury Avenue and Drs. James Parker Boulevard, is significantly scaled back from its original form, filed in October, 2019.
Charlie Hoffmann with parks attendant Celestine Woods at Riverside Gardens Park in 2018. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Charlie Hoffmann, who has directed Red Bank’s parks and recreation department for the past five years, is leaving town.
The announcement of his departure at the council’s semimonthly meeting Wednesday sparked a “pile-on” of praise for Hoffmann’s work, which included organizing everything from sports and cultural offerings to this weekend’s Spring Egg Hunt.
The sewage pump station at the foot of Cooper’s Bridge was once used as a gas manufacturing plant. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
More than a century after it served as a gas works, a riverfront Red Bank property may get some 20th-century environmental remediation.
Coal tar and other toxic wastes beneath the town’s Bodman Place sewage pumping station overlooking the Navesink are slated to be immobilized by technology known as ‘jet grouting,’ according to borough officials.
A concept plan showing facilities at the southern entrance to Count Basie Fields includes an indoor basketball court. (Screenshot from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank Redevelopment Agency began sorting through concept plans for possible new senior citizen and recreation facilities Tuesday.
Added to the “fix it now” demand by advocates of a stand-alone Senior Center was a new one: leave the outdoor basketball courts at Count Basie Fields alone.
Red Bank police arrested a borough man on drug charges Friday, Chief Darren McConnell said Monday.
A homeowner at Cedar Crossing owes years worth of unpaid fees, the condo association says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Housing officials in Red Bank are preparing legal action against a Cedar Crossing homeowner they say has both illegally sublet her condo and skipped years of fee payments.
Garmany sued its insurer over pandemic-related losses. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Upscale Red Bank clothing retailer Garmany lost a federal lawsuit Thursday in which it sought insurance reimbursements for pandemic-related losses.
Those losses, it argued, were caused by Governor Phil Murphy’s shutdown of the state’s economy a year ago, and not the COVID-19 virus itself.
A rendering of the building, dubbed The Parker, proposed for Shrewsbury Avenue at River Street. (Image by Thomas J. Brennan Architects. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposal for four stories of new retail and apartments on Shrewsbury Avenue got mixed reviews at Thursday’s meeting of the Red Bank zoning board.
It’s “huge,” said a board member and one resident. It’s a welcome replacement to the two vacant homes now on the site, said two other commenters.
The crime and arrest reports below were provided by the Little Silver Police Department for February, 2021. This information is unedited. For additional information, please scroll to the bottom of this post.
February 3- A business on Sycamore Ave. reported Fraud/Forgery after discovering that an unknown subject(s) gained access to checking account information and created fraudulent checks and cashed them. P.O. Andrew Smith and Det. Sgt. Robert Chenoweth investigated.
The tooth-shaped sign is used as a reference by locals when giving out driving directions. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
In less than half the time recommended for a good brushing, Red Bank’s Historic Preservation Commission OK’d the replacement of a dentist’s tooth-shaped sign Wednesday night.
About 500 Red Bank residents have received COVID-19 vaccinations over the past month under a program coordinated by the borough’s Senior Center, an official said Wednesday.
26 West on the Navesink, above, and the nameless restaurant planned for 3-5 Broad Street, below, hope to install garage-style openings. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two downtown Red Bank restaurants will seek permission to install garage-style front doors when the Historic Preservation Commission meets Wednesday night.
Also on the unusually busy agenda for the advisory body: a dentist needs a tooth pulled.
Two houses on Shrewsbury Avenue at River Street would be demolished to make way for the project, dubbed The Parker at Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposal for new stores topped by three floors of apartments is slated for review by the Red Bank zoning board this week.
Developer Roger Mumford‘s plan would transform half a block of Shrewsbury Avenue, but first needs multiple variances.
Vance Valente at Quicksilver Handcrafted Jewelry on Saturday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
This edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn might be titled “keeping churn to a minimum.”
Because while we’re reporting the closure of a downtown shop – due to retirement, not the economy – the change comes with a significant real estate deal aimed at keeping small shops alive.
Marian Quinn of Manor Drive speaking at the rally. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Invoking “demolition by neglect” and the prospect of “apartments” on the site, several dozen Red Bankers rallied Saturday to demand that the mothballed borough Senior Center be repaired.
They also momentarily drowned out the grandson of the center’s founder when he took issue with one of the handmade signs posted on the building.
Yet another century-old building in Fair Haven’s historic downtown is up on blocks.
What’s Going On Here? Read on.
[See UPDATE below]
Red Bank Regional High School will revert to an all-remote schedule Friday because of “high rates of community transmission” of COVID-19 and other factors, Superintendent Lou Moore announced Thursday evening.
Downtown Red Bank was nearly empty on a Friday night last March as pandemic restrictions on economic and social activity took effect. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s government will receive a direct infusion of nearly $1.18 million under the $1.9 trillion pandemic recovery bill passed by Congress earlier in the day, officials said Wednesday night.
The funds will enable the borough to begin filling its own budgetary holes while providing aid to renters, small businesses and local non-profits, said an elated Mayor Pasquale Menna.
But one item it can’t be used on, contrary to the suggestion of a council candidate, is repairing the shuttered Senior Center, according to two officials.
More than 90 individuals braved a cold rain for COVID-19 vaccinations at Pilgrim Baptist Church in Red Bank February 27. (Photo courtesy of Pilgrim Baptist Church. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
New Jersey averaged 65 COVID-19 deaths per day over the past year, Governor Phil Murphy said Wednesday, as he noted the one-year anniversary of the first.
In that time, Monmouth County has lost more than 1,300 residents to a pandemic now being battled with a trio of vaccines. Read More
Supporters of a drive to repair and reopen Red Bank’s Senior Center plan to rally at the facility Saturday for the second time this year.
The council continues to meet via Zoom due to pandemic restrictions. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s borough council meets for its first regular session of the month Wednesday night.
Here’s what’s on the agenda, and what’s not.