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RED BANK: TRIAL BIKE LANES ASSESSED

Cyclists gathered at Canal Street and Hudson Avenue, above, and pedaling along East Bergen Place, at right, during the Red Bank Porchfest townwide music festival Sunday. 

In addition to numerous pedestrians moving from stage to stage, the event appeared to bring out several hundred cyclists, many of whom used temporary bike lanes set up with assistance from the transportation nonprofit EZ Ride to get around town.

Earlier this week, redbankgreen did an email Q&A about the experiment with Councilwoman Nancy Facey-Blackwood, who helped coordinate the temporary lanes. Below are excerpts.

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October 5, 2023 - 8:00 am |

RED BANK: PORCHFEST ROLLS AND SHINES

For the second year in a row, the sun shone Red Bank’s Porchfest townwide music festival Sunday. 

The five-hour event, a fundraiser for the housing nonprofit HABcore, offered peripatetic audiences opportunities to hear classical music, bluegrass, hard rock and more by 90-something acts (including a spotted lanternfly) performing on 25 porches, driveways, in back yards and at least one gazebo.

Among the throngs were numerous bicyclists, taking advantage of temporary bike lanes set up for the event.

redbankgreen stopped in at all 25 venues. Here’s some of what we saw; click photos to enlarge.

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October 2, 2023 - 8:56 am |

RED BANK: YOUR GUIDE TO PORCHFEST II

Chamber music, metal, “stoner folk,” jazz, a bit of standup comedy and more: Red Bank’s second annual Porchfest townwide music festival promises a cornucopia of melody Sunday.

But who’s playing, when and where? Here’s a handy guide to help you plan an itinerary.

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September 29, 2023 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: BIKE LANES SET FOR PORCHFEST

Red Bank’s second annual Porchfest townwide music festival is shaping up to be bigger than the first, organizers said last week.

To encourage attendees to bike between the more two dozen “stages,” this year’s event will feature temporary bike lanes. 

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September 26, 2023 - 8:40 am |

RED BANK: RESTAURANTS CHURN IN… AND OUT

Agra Indian Masala is under construction at the onetime home of Monmouth Music. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Two long-vacant spaces in downtown Red Bank are showing signs of returning as new restaurants.

Also in this edition of redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn: two restaurants that proved short-lived.

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July 21, 2023 - 8:00 am |

RED BANK: THOUSANDS ENJOY RIVER CONCERT

In lawn chairs, on blankets and aboard boats, thousands of music lovers flocked to Marine Park in Red Bank for the return of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra after a three-year absence Saturday night.

Were you there for the sublime concert on the Navesink? Check out redbankgreen‘s photos below to spot familiar faces, and let us know what you thought of the event, organized as in the past by downtown promotion agency Red Bank RiverCenter. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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July 4, 2023 - 11:45 am |

RED BANK: PORCHFEST ROCKS TOWN

Sunshine, cool weather, beach chairs, bikes and guitars… Red Bank’s first-ever Porchfest music festival “went off as flawlessly as it could” Sunday, said lone mayoral candidate Billy Portman. 

The five-hour festival, which Portman organized with HABcore executive Marta Quinn as a fundraiser for the housing nonprofit, put more than 80 musical acts on 22 porches, lawns and driveways across the borough. Each drew an audience, some in the hundreds.

Traveling around to the various porches, yards and driveways, “I just watched it grow as the hours got later,” Portman told redbankgreen.

The event was nonpolitical, Portman said, though “it is completely aligned with what I hope to do more of as a mayor, and that is bring people together, and focus more on our similarities, and less on our differences.” He also hopes to make Porchfest as an annual occurrence, he said.

redbankgreen stopped in at all 22 venues. Here’s some of what we saw; click photos to enlarge.

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October 10, 2022 - 10:45 am |

RED BANK: PORCHFEST TO FILL EARS & HEARTS

An interactive map for the event displays the lineup of acts at each location; click on circled numbers to view. Below, Carlotta Schmidt is among the scheduled artists. (Photo from YouTube. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

It was not that long ago that Red Bank was a place of large-scale, outdoor music festivals. One needn’t be ancient to recall the sprawling, weekend-long Jersey Shore Jazz & Blues Festival in Marine Park each summer, or the spring-and-fall festivals in the White Street parking lot, both of which went dark this year.

But this Sunday, live, open-air concerts come roaring back to the borough in a new, decentralized model that’s been road-tested elsewhere: Porchfest, a five-hour eargasm of 70 acts spread across town on 21 residential porches, plus 11 more acts at a previously scheduled music fest behind a dentist’s office.

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October 6, 2022 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: STOMPIN’ THRU THE WEEKEND

We kick off this first weekend of autumn, 2022 with the debut of ‘Stomp Your Blues Away,’ a post-pandemic paean to Red Bank by Omega Train.

“When I take my body down to old Red Bank’s downtown,” goes the song, “my pain don’t hurt me anymore.”

Well, that’s music to Red Bank’s restaurants and shops this next-to-final weekend of the Broadwalk outdoor dining plaza. Visitors will also find lots of added attractions, including a Kids’ Takeover from 4 to 6:30 p.m. Friday; StreetLife music performances Saturday night; and bands at three bars: Red Tank Brewing, Jamian’s and Triumph Brewing.

And the weather looks ideal for stomping… or maybe just strolling. Both Friday and Saturday will be warm and sunny, with early-fall temperatures in the evening, according to the National Weather Service. Sunday’s outlook isn’t look bad, either: partly sunny, with a 30-percent chance of rain after 2 p.m.

Check out the extended forecast below.  More →

September 23, 2022 - 6:20 am |

RED BANK: EX-STUDENT LEADS CONSERVATORY

Students perform outside the Monmouth Conservatory’s home on Chestnut Street in 2019. Laura Petillo, below. (Click to enlarge.)

Press release

The Count Basie Center for the Arts in Red Bank has named violinist and longtime strings instructor Laura Petillo as Manager of Music Programs at its Academy of the Arts and the Count Basie Center’s Monmouth Conservatory of Music.

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July 18, 2022 - 6:33 am |

RED BANK: PORTMAN READY FOR MAYOR’S MIC

Billy Portman in a scene from the 1994 short film ‘No Time,’ directed by Darren Aronofsky. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

After his mic-drop win in the Red Bank Democratic primary last month, Billy Portman enters the general election campaign as – in all likelihood – the first mayoral candidate in borough history with an IMDB listing and a “filthy” rap record on his résumé.

It turns out the 53-year-old building contractor/cover-band singer has had a long involvement in comedy and films, too.

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July 1, 2022 - 7:00 am |

RED BANK: GUITARS, TOYS & TABLES CHURN IN

Relic Music owner Mike Nicosia with one of the Dunable guitars his shop carries. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Amid a booming market for six-stringed instruments, a boutique retailer of electric guitars has opened in downtown Red Bank.

Also in this edition of Retail Churn: a new combo toy and sports memorabilia shop, and a Ukrainian maker of custom tables and jewelry making its United States landfall, both on Broad Street.

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November 12, 2021 - 7:58 am |

RED BANK: THOUSANDS PACK OYSTERFEST

Sunny and cool weather provided ideal conditions for the return of the Red Bank RiverCenter-hosted Guinness Oyster Festival Sunday.

After a missed year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s 11th edition saw fewer local restaurants owing to staffing shortages. But thousands of attendees packed the White Street parking lot, waited patiently in lines for food and drinks, and partied with friends in front of two stages as in the past.

Were you there? Look for yourself and your friends in redbankgreen‘s beaucoup photos below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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September 27, 2021 - 7:30 am |

RED BANK: COFFEE SHOP JAZZES UP CORNER

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.”

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July 14, 2021 - 4:45 pm |

RED BANK: BAGPIPER CLOSES THE DISTANCE

Maintaining a safe distance from passersby, bagpiper Doc Saphire plays a bit of ‘Danny Boy’ outside his Red Bank home Wednesday evening. 

Because they can’t get together to perform and practice under COVID-19 directives, Saphire and his fellow members of the Pipes and Drums of the Atlantic Watch have embarked on a 100-day campaign of playing a song each night through the Fourth of July, he said. Wednesday night’s performance was his first from his Prospect Avenue porch.

“Once the crisis is over, anybody who wants to learn, we’re giving free lessons,” Saphire said. “If I can do it, anybody can.”  (Video by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

April 2, 2020 - 9:30 am |

RED BANK: SUNSET CONCERT PICTURE-PERFECT

red bank new jersey symphony 2019red bank new jersey symphony 2019A golden sunset on the Navesink River, pillow-soft breezes and the soaring sounds of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra combined to create a picture-perfect summer’s evening in Marine Park in Red Bank Sunday.

Were you there? Check out redbankgreen‘s photos below to spot familiar faces, and let us know what you thought of the event, which was organized for the third consecutive year by Red Bank RiverCenter. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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July 1, 2019 - 5:20 am |

RED BANK: O’REE & ROCKIT ROCK OUT SUMMER

The Matt O’Ree Band, above, and a teen band from the Rockit program at the Count Basie Center for the Arts, below, performed for about 1,000 concertgoers in a free show at Riverside Gardens Park Friday night.

Check out the photos below from a delightful late-summer evening beside our beautiful Navesink River. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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August 27, 2018 - 8:00 am |

RED BANK: MONMOUTH MUSIC TO CLOSE

Monmouth Music owner Mario DiBartolo plans to open the STEM Music Academy in the space. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Even as he was buying Monmouth Music two years ago, Mario DiBartolo knew he was swimming against the current that has swamped so many small retailers in the past two decades.

Yes, he hoped to retain the Red Bank store’s loyal customers and continue selling guitars and other musical instruments, he told redbankgreen last year. But his investment was really in the Monmouth Street real estate that housed the 30-year-old business, he said.

Now, he’s throwing in the towel on retail.

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August 8, 2018 - 2:00 pm |

RED BANK: SWEET MUSIC ON A SULTRY NIGHT

On a sultry summer evening, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra made its second annual sunset appearance on the banks of the Navesink River in Red Bank Sunday.

But even without a cooling breeze, several thousand attendees were transported to magical places, courtesy of the orchestra’s waltzes, intermezzos, show tunes and other pieces.

Check out redbankgreen‘s photos from the event, organized by Red Bank RiverCenter. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

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July 2, 2018 - 9:15 am |

RED BANK: WORDS AND MUSIC IN THE PARK


Five thousand strong, music lovers found a few hours of respite from everyday noise when the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra played an open-air concert in Red Bank’s Marine Park last summer.

This Sunday, the NJSO returns to the park with another free show, where those in attendance will also get a chance to connect to the borough’s history via the written word.

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June 27, 2018 - 12:15 pm |

FAIR HAVEN: A DAY OF COMMUNITY

The seventh annual Fair Haven Day once again offered borough residents an evening of food, games, music and community at Fair Haven Fields Saturday.

redbankgreen was there to capture the event in pixels, right down to the spectacular fireworks finale. Click ‘read more’ for additional photos. (Photos by Mariah Woodbury. Click to enlarge.)

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June 11, 2018 - 11:26 am |

LITTLE SILVER: RBR VOCAL MAJORS SHINE

Vocal majors who won placements in the Doris Lenz Musical Festival are, left to right: Catherine Creed, Jack Faccone-Stockwell, Jael Cross (all Red Bank), Claire Taylor, Little Silver; Sara Zerilli, Millstone; and Maddie Staudt, Neptune City.

Press release from Red Bank Regional High

On October 7, Red Bank Regional High School (RBR) was proud to host the this year’s NJ Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing’s (NATS) Doris Lenz Festival for High School Singers. RBR Visual & Performing Art Academy (VPA) students had the largest number of participants competing among the top high school voices throughout New Jersey.

Additionally, a remarkable seven RBR students placed in the competitions.

RBR took four top positions in the Women’s Classical Lower Division with Sarah Zerilli, Millstone, Maddie Stout, Neptune City, Claire Taylor, Little Silver, and Catherine Cree, Red Bank taking first, second, third and fifth place, respectively. Claire Taylor additionally placed third in the Women’s Musical Theatre Lower Division.  Jack Faccone-Stockwell, Red Bank, took second place in the Men’s Musical Theatre Upper Division; and Jael Cross, Red Bank, took Third Place in the Women’s Classical Upper Division. (Divisions are divided by age.)

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November 22, 2017 - 10:44 pm |

RED BANK: WANT FREE CONCERTS? VOTE HERE.

Red Bank’s Riverside Gardens Park could be the site of a new, free concert series in 2018 if Red Bank RiverCenter is successful in landing a grant it’s in the running for.

And the downtown promotion agency is asking for the public’s help in the form of an online vote. 

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November 2, 2017 - 6:00 am |
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