RED BANK: BROADWALK BOLLARDS GO BIG
Red Bank officials this week began to address one of the foremost complaints about the downtown Broadwalk zone: the presence of “ugly” orange safety barrels used to supplement steel bollards installed last year.
RED BANK: SIX-MONTH BROADWALK ON HOLD
RiverCenter’s proposal includes plans to boost weekday activity in the Broadwalk zone. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A six-month season for Red Bank’s Broadwalk dining plaza would feature enhanced efforts to boost weekday visitors and battle litter, a business representative told the borough council Wednesday night.
The council, however, withheld an immediate decision on the request.
RED BANK: ENGLISH PLAZA, LIGHTLY ACCENTED
Most of the shops along the strip are owned by immigrants. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The street is named English Plaza, after a former Red Bank mayor. But for the majority of businesses along the short block, English is a second language.
Of the eight shops in the strip of one-story business, at least six are owned by immigrants. That far outpaces the borough’s foreign-born population, which comprises 20 percent of residents, according to the Census.
Here are the stories of five, owners of two restaurants, a home decor shop, a beauty salon and a liquor store.
RED BANK: BUILDING SOLD, PHARMACY CLOSED
After six years in business, the Red Bank Family Pharmacy has ended operations. And the Broad Street building it which it operated has changed hands.
RED BANK: OFFICIALS EYE $1.18M INFUSION
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.
RED BANK: RIVERCENTER CHANGES RIPPED
RiverCenter Executive Director Laura Kirkpatrick speaks at a council session in March as Business Administrator Ziad Shehady and Councilman Michael Ballard listen. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna ripped a proposed overhaul of the bylaws of downtown promotion agency RiverCenter Wednesday night.
With two council members joining his critique, Menna said several of the changes would reduce council and public oversight of the agency, which he called “repugnant.”
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.
RED BANK: CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR FOR POT SHOP
The Galleria’s application indicated the business would be located in space now occupied by Siam Garden. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Three months after Red Bank changed its zoning laws to allow sales of medical marijuana, the borough has rejected its first application for a retail pot shop, officials said Wednesday night.
The denial appears to underscore one of the main problems such a business would have to navigate: limitations on their proximity to schools and parks.
RED BANK: DOWNTOWN GETS FIRST TATTOOS
Michael Saunders inks a new tat for Red Bank resident Nick Goskowsky on opening day at Front Street Tattoo. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Just three months after the Red Bank council voted to allow tattoo parlors downtown, one has inked its first butterflies and skulls onto biceps and bellies.
RED BANK: BANK CHURNS OUT, STATIONERY IN
Vicky Li’s new Mini Shop opened Saturday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A bank branch closes and two new businesses open in downtown Red Bank.
Read all about it in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
RED BANK: TATTOO SHOP INKS LEASE
Front Street Tattoo plans to take a portion of the space previously used by Sugarush; the cupcake shop remains. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Just a month after the Red Bank council voted to allow tattoo parlors downtown, one has inked a lease in the district.
Also in Retail Churn: a new women’s accessory shop plans to open.
RED BANK: NEW RIVERCENTER VISION & HQ
RiverCenter executive director Jim Scavone, left, with Mayor Pasquale Menna and Visitors Center executive director Margaret Mass at the office’s opening last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank RiverCenter embarked on a new mission last week.
The manager of the town’s special improvement district nailed down a fresh set of priorities that calls for greater emphasis on leveraging the town’s Navesink River waterfront as a draw for visitors and investors.
It also opened its new offices to Broad Street.
RED BANK: TATTOO, MEDICAL POT ZONES OK’D
Under the changes, medical marijuana dispensaries are now allowed in retail zones, and tattoo parlors are permitted in additional zones. (Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
As expected, the Red Bank council approved measures on medical marijuana shops and tattoo parlors Wednesday.
Officials also introduced an ordinance to recognize a turn toward do-it-yourself crafts and other forms of “commercial recreation” downtown.
RED BANK: RIVERCENTER ‘VISION’ SHARPENS
Bill Fontana speaking at the Two River Theater Monday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
After four months of public meetings, Red Bank RiverCenter‘s effort to redefine its vision began coming into focus Monday night.
Topping a list of six priorities that the downtown promotion agency should focus on is a “reimagined, redeveloped and reinvigorated riverfront,” a consultant told several dozen business owners and borough residents at the Two River Theater.
RED BANK: DOWNTOWN ‘VISION’ GAINS FOCUS
Consultant Bill Fontana onstage at the Two River Theater Monday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Downtown Red Bank is safe, clean and friendly, but it’s got problems with parking, store vacancies and its mix of operating businesses.
Those observations, while perhaps glaringly evident to many, were among the findings of a recent survey conducted for business promotion agency Red Bank RiverCenter and revealed Monday night.
RED BANK: TWO EATERIES AND A ‘WILD EYE’
The Melting Pot features induction heating elements in tabletops to keep the pot contents melted. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A long-closed Red Bank restaurant re-opens, a new one headed by a pair of vaunted chefs announces its debut, and a new retail shop arrives with an intriguing pitch…
All in the latest edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
RED BANK: RIVERCENTER REBOOT BEGINS
Attendees filling out questionnaires at the RiverCenter strategy session at the Oyster Point Hotel Monday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Amid intensifying competition regionally for business investment and shoppers, Red Bank RiverCenter kicked off a four-month effort to redefine its vision for the downtown Monday night.
About 70 people, most of them merchants, gathered in a ballroom at the Oyster Point Hotel to hear from a consultant on how to determine “what you want this place to look like in 10 years,” as he put it.
RED BANK: RETHINKING RIVERCENTER’S JOB
The downtown promotion agency RiverCenter kicks off a mission review next week, and is seeking public input, its officials say. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Through his Monmouth Street store, the Cheese Cave, Steve Catania has been doing business in Red Bank for seven years. And for much of that time, he’s been involved in efforts to advance the interests of downtown retailers like himself.
But if you ask them, most probably couldn’t tell you what Red Bank RiverCenter‘s job really is, says Catania. And that’s a problem, given that it’s supposed to be their advocate.
RED BANK: 10TH AVE. BARMAN SMOKES ‘EM
Dudley Delhagen, bar manager at 10th Ave. Burrito Company in Red Bank, was named the winner of a national contest to come up with a new cocktail using DeKuyper’s-brand cordials Monday.
Launched in September, the contest invited bartenders across America to craft a signature cocktail; fans were then asked to vote for their favorite creation online. Delhagen’s employed the company’s JDK & Son Fleur Elderflower Liqueur. A press release announcing Delhagen as DeKuyper’s first-ever “cocktail master” described his concoction as “the perfect balance of sweet and smoky.”
The recipe for Delhagen’s creation, called the Smoked Blossom, is below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
SEA BRIGHT: STORM “NERVEWRACKING”
A pair of Sea Bright business owners — Frank Bain, of Bain’s Hardware, and Alice Gaffney, of Alice’s Kitchen — talk about the approach of Hurricane Joaquin in this short video by Rutgers journalism student Dan Natale of Red Bank. (Video by Dan Natale.)
MIDDLETOWN THROWS ITSELF A FESTIVAL
Bouncing back for 2015, the annual Middletown Day celebration brings colorful sights, sounds and savor to the grounds of the township’s Parks and Rec headquarters this Saturday.
The annual Middletown Day celebration returns to the headquarters of the township’s Department of Parks and Recreation (the Croydon Hall facility on Leonardville Road in Leonardo) for a rain-or-shine afternoon of all-ages activity that commences this Saturday at 11 a.m.
It’s an eclectic event that promises everything from bounce-houses to business showcases; live rock music to rock-climbing walls; touch-a-firetruck ops to petting zoo — plus food and craft vendors, Granny’s Tag Sale, kids’ activities, all-ages hayrides and all-for-fun sporting contests and tournaments.
RED BANK: 10TH AVE. ENTERS THE RING
10th Ave. Burrito owner Brian Katz with a mural depicting luchadores in an agave field—complete with a tequila distillery. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
10th Ave. Burrito Company opened in Red Bank last week, and there’s no mistaking: it’s serious business, aiming to leverage its 165 seats, a coveted liquor license and primo views of the Navesink River to success.
But with a giant mural of masked Mexican wrestlers, a cadre of tattooed and weird-bearded servers, and a barely filtered owner, the West Front Street eatery appears to be off to a running, if low-key, start on his goal of “bringing something unique” to the town.
More →
CHURN: 10TH AVE. NEARS OPENING DATE
Signage is now up at 10th Ave. Burrito on West Front Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
With the restaurantization of Red Bank in full swing, this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn serves up a groaning board of food news.
• The long wait for 10th Ave. Burrito Company is nearly over.
• Sicilia Ristorante on Broad Street has a new owner, and he’s planning to split the business in two, sort of.
Details, and some assorted table scraps, are just around the corner.
More →
RED BANK: LUCKY BREAK BILLIARDS TO REOPEN
Lucky Break was closed for more than two months as the owner struggled to find a way out of red tape over BYOB rules. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Lucky Break Billiards, the Red Bank pool hall that shut itself down after becoming entangled in bureaucratic red tape over beer and wine consumption, will reopen Thursday.
Hall owner James Hertler tells redbankgreen he got the green light to reopen Wednesday from Mayor Pasquale Menna.
“The gist of it was that there was no complaint” by anyone that Hertler could challenge in court, Hertler said Menna told him. “My takeaway was that we’re good to go.”
RED BANK: LUCKY BREAK’S SHATTERED DREAM
James Hertler, below, shut down Lucky Break Billiards in September, a month after police cracked down over BYOB issues. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
How’s this for an auspicious start for a business?
• In early 2011, in an effort to spice up nightlife, Red Bank Mayor Pasquale Menna spearheads a zoning law change to allow billiards parlors and other entertainment-based businesses to operate downtown.
• Several months later, former Mayor Ed McKenna, as lawyer on a lease for a planned billiards parlor, calls now-deceased police Chief Steve McCarthy to confirm that it could operate as a bring-your-own-beer and wine establishment. McKenna gets an OK, he tells his client, James Hertler, who was in McKenna’s office during the call.
• That October, Hertler goes before the zoning board and wins quick, unanimous approval of his plan for Lucky Break Billiards. Throughout its lengthy resolution of approval, the board notes that Lucky Break will be a BYOB that serves coffee and microwavable snacks and will allow its customers to bring in food from nearby restaurants.
• The following March, Hertler and partner Jeff Regen open Lucky Break at 14 West Front Street, in a space that had been vacant for four years.
• Lucky Break toughs it out for the next 18 months, building a repeat clientele largely based on private parties and edging toward profitability.
• Though it’s located amid a busy cluster of bars, there’s not a single incident requiring a police response at Lucky Break. “We worked hard to be a good neighbor,” said Hertler, a borough resident.
Yet without any change in the pattern described above, guess who abruptly finds himself accused of violating liquor laws – and out of business?