RED BANK: CHILD SEXUAL ASSAULTS CHARGED
Two Red Bank men are facing charges of sexual assaults on minors following separate investigations, police Chief Darren McConnell said Thursday.
The cases were unrelated, he told redbankgreen via email.
RED BANK: JEWELRY STORE BURGLAR SOUGHT
A photo from surveillance video showing the burglar. (Photo via Red Bank police. Click to enlarge.)
Red Bank police are investigating an early-morning smash-and-grab burglary at a downtown jewelry store, Chief Darren McConnell told redbankgreen Wednesday.
RED BANK: ARREST MADE IN BURGLARY SPREE
A Newark man is in custody on charges arising from a burglary spree that impacted six downtown Red Bank stores and restaurants in one night last month, redbankgreen has learned.
RED BANK: DEBT, COMMITTEE NAME ON AGENDA
Financing for the Broad Street sewer project completed in July is on the agenda. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Capital financing and tweaks to the name and purposes of a committee stand out on a light agenda when the Red Bank council meets for a regular semimonthly session Wednesday night.
RED BANK: BUSINESSES HIT IN BURGLARY SPREE
Six Red Bank stores and restaurants were burglarized in a break-in spree along Monmouth Street earlier this week, police Chief Darren McConnell said Saturday.
The lone burglar, who has not been arrested, also tried but failed to break into two other stores, he said.
RED BANK: NEW ‘PASSIVE PARK’ ON AGENDA
A 2021 view of the rear of the Senior Center, which overlooks the Swimming River. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A proposal to subdivide the Senior Center property to create a “passive park” is on the Red Bank council’s agenda Wednesday night.
Also on the table for the semimonthly meeting are matters relating to parking, parks and a committee name change. Here’s what to expect.
RED BANK: SPRING STREET PROJECT ADVANCING
Parking is prohibited this week on the southern half of Spring Street in Red Bank as “minor concrete work and fire hydrant replacement” is scheduled to begin Monday, acting borough administrator and police Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.
RED BANK: BROADWALK SET FOR RETURN
An employee of Catch 19Â setting up tables Friday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With borough workers and contractors putting finishing touches on an eight-month-long streetscape project, a handful of restaurants hastily set up for a return of Red Bank’s Broadwalk plaza Friday.
Outside the traffic-free zone, however, none of the parking-space streateries used over the past two summers have returned, following a sixfold increase in fees by the borough council.
RED BANK: BROADWALK RELAUNCH “ON TRACK”
Gleaming new retractable security bollards are expected make their debut on Broad Street in downtown Red Bank with the return of Broadwalk Friday.
But will businesses be ready for the late-starting third season of the dining and shopping plaza?
RED BANK: BROADWALK CURTAILED, FEES UPPED
Businesses readied for the second year of Broadwalk in May, 2021. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Delayed by months, the third season of Red Bank’s Broadwalk shopping-and-dining plaza may finally get going July 22.
This year’s edition, however, is slated to run only through Labor Day. And new fees for in-street dining will cost restaurateurs twice what they paid over the past two summers, said Bob Zuckerman, executive director of the downtown promotion agency Red Bank RiverCenter.
RED BANK: BROADWALK ACTION EXPECTED
Newly installed retractable bollards will allow for upper Broad Street to be converted quickly to a vehicle-free Broadwalk. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s council is scheduled to hold two meetings Wednesday night, its only sessions in July.
Though not on the agenda for either the workshop or regular meeting, action to enable a third season of Broadwalk is anticipated by the downtown business community.
RED BANK: BROADWALK CONCERNS AIRED
A view of Broadwalk at lunchtime last October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank merchants and residents pressed officials with concerns regarding a third season of Broadwalk at a community forum Wednesday night.
With less than a month to go before a disruptive streetscape makeover project wraps up, they called for efforts to address litter, traffic, speeding on residential streets and more.
RED BANK: BROAD STREET PROJECT NEARS END
Retractable bollards were installed on Mechanic Street near Broad Street Wednesday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
See UPDATE below
By JOHN T. WARD
A messy, overdue and over-budget makeover of upper Broad Street in Red Bank is expected to conclude in late July, acting borough Administrator Darren McConnell said Wednesday.
The project, which began last November, marked a milestone with the installation this week of retractable hydraulic bollards that will enable quick closure of the street to vehicular traffic.
Still to be determined is when the Broadwalk dining promenade will return for a third, if abbreviated, season.
RED BANK: RESOURCE OFFICERS PLANNED
Red Bank police Chief Darren McConnell during Monday’s online forum. (Screengrab from Zoom. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank schools plan to implement a school resource officer program in the borough’s public schools, police Chief Darren McConnell said Monday.
RED BANK: CHIEF TO ADDRESS SAFETY QS
Red Bank police Chief Darren McConnell plans to address public safety concerns following recent mass shootings in Texas and New York in a community Zoom meeting scheduled for Monday evening.Â
RED BANK: SINKHOLE OPENS ON BROAD
A sinkhole opened on Broad Street in downtown Red Bank Monday night, caused a parked vehicle to sink about a foot.
RED BANK: BROADWALK PANEL FORMED
Navigating sidewalks on Broad Street in downtown Red Bank is a bit of a challenge these days.
What’s the latest on the streetscape project that’s been underway since November in the streets northernmost blocks? Read on.
RED BANK: COUNCIL SPARS OVER BROADWALK
Curb replacement work underway as part of the Broad Street streetscape project last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
An ongoing split among Red Bank council Democrats played out as a power struggle Wednesday night over who will steer the reopening of the seasonal Broadwalk dining and shopping plaza.
RED BANK: BROADWALK MAY RETURN IN JULY
Diners enjoying lunch in the Broadwalk zone in October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Delayed by street a reconstruction project, Red Bank’s Broadwalk outdoor dining plaza will return this summer, borough officials agreed Wednesday.
The informal consensus of the council was the first indication that the downtown car-free experiment, launched in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, would get a third edition.
RED BANK: BORGHI CAPS HER PEN
With “very mixed” emotions, Pam Borghi reported for her final day of work before retiring as Red Bank borough clerk Monday.
RED BANK: COUNCIL OKS MAIN, TIE-IN COSTS
A Montana Construction crew working on Broad Street earlier this month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Broad Street in Red Bank will get a new, $1.3 million water main, following council action to expand a $2.7 million sanitary sewer project that has disrupted downtown traffic for the past three months.
And property owners won’t have to pay thousands of dollars to replace their water connections, as some had feared.
RED BANK: “YOU BROKE IT, YOU FIX IT”
A Montana Construction crew working on Broad Street earlier this month. (redbankgreen photo. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Property owners in downtown Red Bank pushed back Wednesday night on the notion that they should pay thousands of dollars each to replace their water service lines.
Addressing the borough council on their behalf, Red Bank RiverCenter Executive Director Glenn Carter invoked the adage, “you broke it, you fix it.”
RED BANK: LEAKS TO COST PROPERTY OWNERS
Contractors working on the Broad Street project early Thursday. (redbankgreen photo. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
As many as 100 property owners in downtown Red Bank may be in for a shock: thousands of dollars in costs to replace leaking water-supply lines, officials said Wednesday night.
RED BANK: WHAT’S ON COUNCIL AGENDA
Interim Business Administrator and police Chief Darren McConnell with Senior Center Director Jackie Reynolds in October. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
At its semimonthly meeting Tuesday night, the Red Bank council is expected to consider a new employment pact with the borough’s acting administrator.
Also on deck: appointing a Master Plan consultant; weighing in on the future of the charter school; and anticipating a looming retirement at borough hall.
RED BANK: BROAD STREET PROJECT TO START
A street sweeper sat ready for use behind barriers that remained at Broad and White streets early Monday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Broadwalk dining promenade wrapped up its second season with the reopening of upper Broad Street to traffic Monday.
But downtown motorists will face a new set of obstacles as the borough embarks next week on a road project that’s expected to continue until Christmas.
Here’s what to expect, per acting borough administrator and police Chief Darren McConnell.