With temperatures in the mid-70s, the pier in Red Bank’s Marine Park drew a small crowd for fishing and clamming Saturday afternoon.
The first workday of August, 2021 gets underway Monday with more cool weather and lots of sunshine Monday morning before temperatures rise to a high of 81 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Check out the extended forecast below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
Mario Segundo has opened Mariscos Marlin, a Mexican seafood restaurant, in the Galleria of Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The owner of a new Red Bank restaurant quit his job in auto repair to open his first business in the space vacated by friends earlier this year.
Also in this summer-doldrums edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn: a Norwegian knitting store and a health spa plan openings, and a group of artists hope to hang onto their space.
Councilman Michael Ballard in 2019. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Councilman Michael Ballard challenged his fellow Democrats on the governing body Thursday night for using unspent funds from 2020 to keep a lid on taxes.
At a special session of the council, held via Zoom, Ballard alleged the use of $3.5 million in surplus was driven by that objective.
A long-idle gas station at Riverside Avenue and Bridge Avenue will be included in a second review of the designation for the former VNA headquarters, at left above. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The would-be developer of a massive apartment complex at Red Bank’s northern tip is now angling for tax relief in order to build the project.
Consultant Ken DeRoberts told the borough redevelopment agency Tuesday that Saxum Real Estate has submitted a new plan for the former Visiting Nurse Association property that’s driven by a need for a PILOT, or payment in lieu of taxes agreement.
A new trash contract and landfill fees increased waste removal costs by $318,000 this year, officials said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Facing large increases in debt financing and trash costs, Red Bank officials dodged a tax rate increase thanks in part to a surplus from 2020, they said Tuesday night.
At a 45-minute information session by the borough finance committee, held via Zoom, Councilman Hazim Yassin called the outcome “phenomenal.”
A pinhole camera image from Jay Sullivan’s ‘Out of the Box’ exhibit at Red Bank Frameworks. (Jay Sullivan photo. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After completing a project about his father that took a heavy emotional toll, Red Bank photographer Jay Sullivan “decided to do something lighter” for his next series of pictures.
“Something lighter” turned out to be images from his backyard taken over the next seven years with a camera made from a hexagonal hatbox.
[See UPDATE below]
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank and Fair Haven property owners who pay their taxes directly, rather than through an escrow account, can hold off on pulling out their checkbooks for a few more weeks.
Bills have yet to be sent out for taxes normally due August 1.
Doug Booton, center, and Anthony Jude Setaro with artist Maria Chamra and her mural of Sassano, Italy. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Before they began resettling in Red Bank in 1895, Anthony Jude Setaro and Doug Booton’s ancestors lived for at least 400 years in Sassano, a village in Italy’s Campania region.
Now, a bay window at the family’s Oakland Street homestead frames an idyllic vision of a faraway place that to the new owners still qualifies as home.
Costs associated with planned repairs to the shuttered Senior Center delayed adoption of the borough budget. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Construction plans for repairs to Red Bank’s water-damaged and long-closed Senior Center will cost $96,000, borough officials said Wednesday.
Accommodating that expense into the municipal budget will require a budget amendment and special meeting of the council. But they won’t slow the repair efforts, said acting Business Administrator Darren McConnell.
Cherron Rountree, bottom left, during the Redevelopment Agency’s June 22 meeting Tuesday. (Zoom screengrab. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council hired a new executive director for the borough redevelopment agency Wednesday night over objections based on her inclusion in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
The dispute highlighted competing interpretations of who should get the benefit of doubt in a so-called “me-too” case.
Kurt Poehler at the Red Bank Farmer’s Market in May, 2020. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The farmer who trigged a backlash over disposed produce at the Red Bank Farmer’s Market Sunday defended the practice as a normal result of sorting Wednesday.
In addition, an organization that puts surplus produce into the hands of those who need it backed him for donating carloads of fruit and vegetables weekly, including Sunday.
The speed limit on the full length of Front Street/River Road through town would be reduced to 25 miles per hour under a Monmouth County proposal. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A ban on fireworks, a new executive director for the redevelopment agency, a reduced speed limit and more crowd a busy agenda when the Red Bank council holds its only regular session of July Wednesday night.
Devastating wildfires in Oregon have cast a blanket of haze that’s impacting even the Greater Red Bank Green, as seen in Tuesday’s unusual sunrise over the Navesink River in Red Bank, above, and sunset viewed from the GooseNeck Bridge over the Shrewsbury, at right.
The haze is expected to linger until about noon Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service. “Severe” evening thunderstorms, which may bring damaging wind gusts and large hail, will help further rid the atmosphere of smoke, the agency reported early Wednesday.
Check out the extended forecast below. (Photos by Trish Russoniello. Click to enlarge.)
Customers of the Red Bank Farmer’s Market were alarmed to see good produce tossed into a dumpster Sunday.
Additional facilities and parking would be created on lots adjacent to Lunch Break’s home on Drs. James Parker Boulevard. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Lunch Break, the food security and social services resource, announced the start of a $12 million capital campaign to fund an expansion of its Red Bank home Monday.
An addition to its facilities at at 121 Drs. James Park Boulevard is needed “to accommodate the growing needs of the community,” the nonprofit said in an announcement.
State Senator Declan O’Scanlon in Red Bank in May. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
New Jersey state Senator Declan O’Scanlon accused Twitter of “Orwellian” behavior after the social media giant banned him over a three-week-old tweet Saturday.
The proposed luxury car rental showroom would occupy the storefront at 21 East Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Need a Lamborghini for a day? A luxury car club approved for space in downtown Red Bank Thursday night will rent you one for just $1,300 per.
Also OK’d by the zoning board: a personal training gym in a residential neighborhood.
The site, at the corner of West Front Street and Maple Avenue, was cleared for construction last October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Zoning board hearings on a new plan to redevelop property next door to the Red Bank Public Library got underway without conclusion Thursday night.
A Navesink River Rowing launch boat heads out from Maple Cove in Red Bank Thursday morning.
Heading into the mid-summer weekend, the Greater Red Bank Green is looking at a mix of weather conditions. Heat and humidity will make it feel like 102 degrees Friday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service. Heavy rain may follow a sunshiney day Saturday; Sunday is shaping up as mostly cloudy with rain possible in the afternoon.
Check out the extended forecast below. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
After a Red Bank Regional High School student tested positive for COVID-19 this week, the Little Silver school’s weight room was closed for additional cleaning, an official told players and parents Thursday.
A customer checks her email at one of the new seating areas at Coffee Corral. (Photo by Chris Ern. Click to enlarge.)
By CHRIS ERN
It’s a warm summer night as Jessica Olszewski relaxes in an Adirondack chair while her wife and young daughter dance to live jazz under glimmering lights outside the Coffee Corral in in Red Bank.
A new, post-pandemic vibe has captured the attention of locals at the busy corner of Shrewsbury Avenue and Drs. James Parker Boulevard. There, owners Courtlyn Crosson and Erich Reulbach have developed their business into what Reulbach said is now “more than just a coffee shop on the corner.”
“It’s family-friendly. I have my wife and daughter here, and she’s able to run around and enjoy the live music,” says Olszewski, of Tinton Falls. “It’s a lot of what we couldn’t do for so long.”
A view of the Rail project from Chestnut Street, with the existing office building at right and the new residential portion at left. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By CHRIS ERN
For nearly four years, it’s been slowly emerging from the ground alongside the Red Bank train station. Now, most of the block bounded by Bridge Avenue, Chestnut and Oakland streets is a teeming site of construction activity.
So What’s Going On Here? Here’s the latest.
A view east along River Road from 2016. Below, a 5G repeater atop a pole alongside Route 35 in Shrewsbury in 2018. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Fair Haven’s council took two steps to slow things down on River Road Monday night.
One measure would reduce the vehicular speed limit on the road for the full width of town. Another would tap the brakes on an anticipated proliferation of wireless telecom infrastructure on utility poles along that road and and elsewhere in the borough.
The council also took action on upgrades to the historic Bicentennial Hall.
After a year up on blocks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Doc Holiday Classic Car Show returned to Red Bank’s White Street parking lot Sunday.
With 270 vehicles on display and hundreds of car lovers admiring them, the event marked the return of large-scale public events following months of restrictions on gatherings. It was also the first in the lot since a makeover of the parking facility, which also hosts major spring-and-fall food festivals per year. One, the Guinness Oyster Festival, is scheduled to return September 26.
The car show, a scholarship fundraiser named for a late fire chief, is hosted by volunteer firefighters from the borough’s Liberty Hose company. Check out additional photos below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
