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RED BANK: COLORS AT ISSUE IN MAKEOVER

The bank plans to remove the pylon that’s topped the building since it opened as a supermarket 70 years ago. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

A ’50s-style rooftop pylon can go, but the paint colors proposed for a makeover of a downtown bank proved an issue for the Red Bank Historic Preservation Commission Wednesday night.

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RED BANK: TAX SETTLEMENT POSTPONED

By JOHN T. WARD

hot topic red bank njThe Red Bank council postponed action Wednesday night on a proposed tax appeal settlement that would slash the assessment on a downtown bank property by almost one-third.

But the delay, requested by Mayor Pasquale Menna, was not motivated by an objection to the terms of the deal, he said.

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RED BANK: BIG TAX CUT FOR BANK ON AGENDA

red bank 170 broad 052420The Bank of America branch is identified in the settlement as both tenant and taxpayer at 170 Broad Street. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

A drive-thru bank in downtown Red Bank would get a 32-percent cut in its property tax assessment under a resolution up for consideration by the council Wednesday night.

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FALL INTO ACTION FOR 28th BEACH SWEEPS

Trash from Atlantic City Sweeps_April 2012Over 65 coastal and waterfront sites, from Cape May to Middlesex Counties, will be cleaned by teams of volunteers during the annual Fall Beach Sweeps effort this Saturday, October 19.

From press materials furnished by Clean Ocean Action

More than 65 sites — including several in Red Bank, Sea Bright, and neighboring communities — will be descended upon by teams of volunteers this Saturday, October 19, as Clean Ocean Action (COA) invites citizens and organizations to participate in the 28th Annual Fall Beach Sweeps.

“Clean Ocean Action is excited to continue to integrate Beach Sweeps into the Waves of Action program, a year-long initiative to recover and restore the NY/NJ coastline after the devastation of Sandy,” commented Catie Tobin, Clean Ocean Action Ocean Advocacy and Education Fellow.

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WOMAN’S CLUB GETS SECRET SETTLEMENT

That little bit of decorative cornice that overhangs the Woman’s Club fire lane cost the Bank of America. (Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

What’s a couple of inches of historic airspace in downtown Red Bank worth?

Officials of the Woman’s Club of Red Bank aren’t saying, following an inadvertent encroachment on their historic Broad Street home by the new next-door neighbor, the Bank of America.

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DETAILS ABOUT ROBBERY STILL UNDER WRAPS

rumson-bank1A stretch of West River Road was blocked off nearly four hours Tuesday after a bomb threat at the Bank of America. (Photo by Dustin Racioppi; click to enlarge)

By DUSTIN RACIOPPI

Two suspects are in police custody after allegedly threatening to blow up the Bank of America on River Road in Rumson Tuesday afternoon, Mayor John Ekdahl said.

The unidentified men, who are from Monmouth County, are being held at Rumson police headquarters until they are charged by the Prosecutor’s Office.

After a near four-hour lockdown of part of Rumson’s busy main road, a sweep conducted by the FBI showed there was no bomb in the building, Ekdahl said.

“The building is clear,” he said. “There’s no bombs in the bank.”

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TWO HELD IN BOMB-THREAT BANK ROBBERY AFTER DRAMATIC STOP BY RUMSON COP

Video taken from Liz Kelleher’s car as a Rumson police officer stopped the two suspects.

Two suspects are said to be in custody, stopped at gunpoint by a Rumson cop as they attempted to leave a West River Road bank they’d threatened to blow up, according to an eyewitness.

Mayor John Ekdahl confirmed the two arrests, and said the suspects had attempted to rob the bank using the threat of blowing it up. It remained unclear, however, if they in fact had an explosive device or any weapons.

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‘SUBDUED SCENE’ AT RUMSON BOMB THREAT

just_in1redbankgreen‘s Dustin Racioppi describes a “surprisingly subdued scene” in Rumson as authorities respond to a purported bomb threat Tuesday evening.

As of 5:20p, West River Road remained closed from First to Third streets as police detour traffic around the Bank of America branch that a suspect, said to have been carrying a suitcase, purportedly threatened to blow up.

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