RED BANK: WORKER EXTRICATED FROM BOAT
[SEE UPDATE BELOW]
A worker at Red Bank Marina was extricated from a boat after becoming stuck in its engine well Monday afternoon.
RED BANK: 139-YEAR-OLD MARINA SOLD
Riverview Medical Center looms over one of two Irwin Marine properties flanking Marine Park. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Irwin Marine, a boating business with pilings sunk deep into the red clay waterfront that gave Red Bank its name, has been sold by the family that’s owned it throughout its 139-year existence.
RED BANK: NO INJURIES IN YACHT BLAZE
Volunteer firefighters battled the blaze in close quarters on a dock and ramp. Below, onlookers at Riverview Medical Center. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
No one was injured in the dramatic waterfront blaze that destroyed and sank a yacht docked at a Navesink River marina Thursday night, Red Bank Fire Chief Nick Ferraro told redbankgreen.
RED BANK: HOSPITAL ENVELOPED IN SMOKE
A dockside boat fire blanketed Red Bank’s Riverview Medical Center in smoke Thursday evening.
RED BANK: FIRE DESTROYS BOAT IN MARINA
(See UPDATE below)
Fire destroyed at least one boat and damaged another in a predawn blaze at the Molly Pitcher Inn marina in Red Bank Saturday.
RED BANK: HIGHRISE GETS NEW POOL & NAME
The new pool and poolhouse at the former Riverview Towers. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Three years after their swimming pool mysteriously popped out of the ground, residents of a Red Bank riverfront highrise got a closeup look at its $3.5 million replacement Monday night.
The 53-year-old Riverside Towers, at 28 Riverside Avenue, has also been rebranded as the Navesink Riverside Residences and Marina.
RED BANK: NEW LOT, HOURS ON AGENDA
The plan calls for a new parking lot on the former site of the Marine Park tennis courts. (Image by CME Associates. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A new parking lot in Red Bank’s Marine Park is among the topics slated for discussion by the council Wednesday night.
So is an issue put on hold five months ago: increasing the hours of paid parking downtown.
RED BANK: POOL LAWSUIT CLAIMS NEGLIGENCE
Work to replace the Riverview Towers pool was underway last week, as seen from a balcony. The deck of the Atrium at Navesink Harbor is visible at left. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Sixteen months after their swimming pool mysteriously popped out of the ground, residents of the Riverside Towers high-rise in Red Bank are rebuilding their treasured riverfront amenity.
Meantime, they’re also in court against a number of vendors, offering an unusual explanation for the, um, floating pool.
RED BANK: MARINE PARK PLAN UNVEILED
The plan calls for a new parking area on the current site of tennis courts, shown at upper left, and a new entry plaza, at lower left. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank’s Marine Park would lose its clay tennis courts to a parking lot in exchange for new green space under a concept plan informally adopted by the council Wednesday night.
RED BANK: MARINE PARK PLAN READY TO DROP
A consultant hired last year by Red Bank to reimagine the future of Marine Park is scheduled to unveil a new concept plan Wednesday night. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: MARINE PARK CONCEPTS UNVEILED
Restaurateur Danny Murphy was among the Red Bank residents checking out the newly unveiled concept design plans for Marine Park Wednesday afternoon at the Senior Center.
What do the plans show? Click ‘Read More’ to find out. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
RED BANK: PAIR CHARGED IN MARINA SPREE
An intact utility stanchion abuts one damaged by vandalism at the borough-owned marina. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Two teens were charged with a recent vandalism spree in Marine Park after a Red Bank police stakeout caught them in the act Wednesday night, Chief Darren McConnell tells redbankgreen.
RED BANK: THIS HEAT TAKES THE CAKE, BOSS
With temperatures pushing 90, Carlo’s Bake Shop owner Buddy Valastro kept cool at the Red Bank Marina Thursday prior to taping an episode of his TV show, ‘Cake Boss.’ He’s seen at right with marina owner Steve Remaley and Remaley’s 11-year-old son, Christopher, who took Valastro and a film crew crabbing in the Swimming River.
Spoiler alerts: the show involves a cake in the shape of a crab, and temperatures Friday and Saturday are expected to be only slightly cooler, peaking in the mid-80s. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
AT BARNACLE BILL’S, VIEWS, VIBE AND VITTLES
A busy Tuesday night at Barnacle Bill’s, where the Tilefish Francaise swims in a pool of buttery, lemony sauce. (Photos by Susan Ericson. Click to enlarge)
By SUSAN ERICSON
How many years does it take for a saloon in a marina to become legendary? At the dead end of First Street in Rumson, Barnacle Bill’s has been searing burgers on an open grill and filling glasses at the bar for more than 40 years.
With high-top tables, coveted window seats overlooking our beautiful Navesink River and cozy family-sized tables in the slightly more gentrified dining room, it’s no wonder that there’s a waiting list any given night. In warmer weather, groups happily wait outside, taking in views of the river, the boats in the marina and the mansions on the bluff across the way. In frigid January, though, the waiting masses crowd around the fireplace in the bar area, children and adults making small talk with neighbors.
More →
HUBBARD’S BRIDGE: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Beginning next Monday, or thereabouts, Hubbard’s Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown will be closed to traffic for four months as a new span, at left above, is completed, Monmouth County officials said this week. The existing steel structure, right, installed as a temporary fix a decade ago, will be dismantled for future use elsewhere, officials have said. (Click to enlarge)
See detour information and bridge factoids below, courtesy of Monmouth County (except for the cheeky last one).
RED BANK: SEAL SPOTTED ON HOTEL DOCK
A young harbor seal rested on a Navesink River dock at the Oyster Point Hotel in Red Bank last Friday. Annual seal counts at Sandy Hook have been rising, according to the National Parks Service. But a lone seal five miles upriver? Anyone know how common this is? (Photo by Ken Ameika. Click to enlarge)
RED BANK: FIRE DAMAGES DOCKED BOAT
Mechanic Chris Davison reboards the boat after the fire. (Click to enlarge)
Fire damaged a yacht docked at a Red Bank marina early Thursday afternoon.
Quick action by two employees of Irwin Marine, adjacent to Marine Park on the Navesink River, enabled them to move the burning vessel away from other boats in the marina, said firefighters, who extinguished the blaze from the promenade alongside the park.
Nels Lybeck, an Irwin mechanic, suffered lacerations, but refused medical attention.
“We were blowing out windows to get hoses in there, and his hand was cut,” said fellow mechanic Chris Davison, who with Lybeck moved the burning boat.
SEA BRIGHT DOUSES SECOND FIRE OF DAY
Sea Bright firefighters on the scene of a vacant-house fire at the Carriage House Marina. (Click to enlarge)
A portion of Ocean Avenue in Sea Bright was closed to traffic at midday as firefighters attacked their second blaze of the day Thursday.
A fire at a vacant house on the property of Carriage House Marina, at 1202 Ocean Avenue, was quickly doused following a noontime alarm, said Councilman Read Murphy, a member of the volunteer fire squad.
A BELATED DAD’S DAY GIFT
5:47 p.m.: Father’s Day arrived slightly late for Maria and Kenny Sutherland, brother and sister, who celebrated the occasion on the water Wednesday, instead of Sunday, with both their parents.
After a day on the Navesink River and New York Harbor, dear old dad gave himself a present. He “left us to clean the boat,” Maria said. (Photo by Connor ‘Solstice’ Soltas. Click to enlarge)
Today, redbankgreen engages in a bit of Sol Searching as we chase the sun across the Green on the longest thanks to the Summer Solstice and, by coincidence, so-far-hottest day of the year. Please check in regularly to see where we’ve been. Suggestions? Send ’em here, please.
MARINA OWNER BRACES FOR BRIDGE SQUEEZE
“There’s no money for business interruption,” says Red Bank Marina owner Steve Remaley, below, who also stands to lose land on both sides of the bridge. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Steve Remaley is about to get it from all sides.
As Monmouth County nears its long-overdue replacement of Hubbard’s Bridge between Red Bank and Middletown starting early next year, the owner of Red Bank Marina is facing:
• the loss of a large parcel of land, opposite his shop on West Front Street, where many of his customers park their vehicles and boat trailers
• the loss of a strip of land on the marina’s main property for the creation of a new pedestrian and bike path to Shrewsbury Avenue
• up to two years of diminished business, including a stretch of at least three months during which bridge traffic will be shut down entirely.
And that’s the best-case scenario.
“I have no idea what I’m in for,” Remaley tells redbankgreen, leaning on a boat being readied for spring and summer use. “This could be the best thing to ever happen to me, or the worst.”
RED BANK: BOATS, BONDS & BUREAUCRACY
The newly rebuilt marina at Marine Park will no longer be reserved exclusively for Red Bank residents. (Click to enlarge)
Boat slips at Marine Park, a bond to cover pension costs and the red tape involved in opening a new business were among the topics tackled by Red Bank’s elected officials earlier this week.
BOONDOCKS REVIVES WATERFRONT DINING
Scenes from a recent Tuesday night at Boondocks. That’s owner Kelly Ryan at upper left with Mike Harper and Megan Prenderville. At upper right is chef Chris Kelber; lower right, the blackened grouper platter. (Click to enlarge)
Think of it as waterfront access for the rest of us.
Anyone familiar with Red Bank’s northern edge knows that river access is at premium. Hotels, private residences and marinas hog most of the Navesink River shoreline. It’s inaccessible to all but the most adventurous from Riverside Gardens Park. And while one might drop a baited line or crab pot from the pier at Marine Park, there’s no getting one’s feet wet never mind that the pier and promenade are completely off-limits now for a planned reconstruction.
Hell, there’s even a battle raging over how much access the public should have to about 50 feet of frontage at the foot of Maple Avenue.
So it’s no small thrill to find that, after a two-year interval, waterfront dining is back on the Navesink here. And for many patrons of the new Boondocks restaurant, it’s a double thrill to discover that the simple seafood menu is done with panache.