The trend in lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases for three towns since November 1. (redbankgreen chart from Monmouth County data. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Sharp increases in COVID-19 cases scrambled schedules for some Red Bank-area schools as they emerged from their year-end 2021 breaks Monday.
Here’s a rundown.
Fair Haven’s borough hall and library share the same building on River Road. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
UPDATE: On Tuesday, Little Silver announced it was closing all borough buildings to public access starting Wednesday and until further notice. Details can be found here.
By JOHN T. WARD
Amid a steep rise in positive COVID-19 tests, Fair Haven has put its government and public library at arms-length for the second time in the pandemic.
The name will change, but after a brief shutdown, fans of Temple Gourmet Chinese restaurant in Red Bank can again enjoy their favorite dishes there.
From a Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey press release
The Visiting Nurse Association of Central Jersey Community Health Center plans to host a “Boost NJ” vaccination event at five Monmouth County sites, including two in Red Bank, on Wednesday, December 15.
Free doses will be available for anyone who is not yet had a booster or initial vaccination.
A court order resulted in the closing of Temple Gourmet Chinese restaurant in Red Bank last week.
The back-end operations of McLoone’s restaurant empire will relocate to offices above Robinson Ale House. Below, Tim McLoone leading Holiday Express in its 28th Christmas-season kickoff concert last month. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
After seven years as a tenant, Tim McLoone has bought the building that houses his Robinson Ale House restaurant in Red Bank.
Earlier this week, redbankgreen caught up with 73-year-old restaurateur by phone as he rode a bus to Camden for one of 22 Christmas concerts he and his charity band, Holiday Express, have scheduled this year.
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.
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.
Temporary barriers at the south end of Broadwalk last week. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
Originally slated to end its second season this week, Red Bank’s ‘Broadwalk‘ begins a one-month extension Friday.
But while Red Bank RiverCenter and many business owners say the mid-street, car-free promenade has succeeded in attracting customers over 18 months of pandemic, others say it has hurt them.
Likely to be the biggest bash Red Bank has seen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Guinness Oyster Festival is set to return for a skipped-year 11th edition Sunday.
Here’s some helpful information for those planning to attend, including a lookahead at the forecast.
Shoppers found bargains, and some relief from the heat, under a sale tent on White Street as Red Bank’s 67th annual Sidewalk Sale got underway Friday.
Fair Haven is also hosting one.
Rumbling back into Fair Haven Friday night after missing out on 2020: the summer-ending food-and-fun extravaganza known as the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair.
Here’s what you need to know if you’re going.
Marchers gathered on the sidewalk outside Riverview Medical Center Monday. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
About 150 proponents of “choice” regarding COVID-19 vaccines and masks protested outside Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank early Monday afternoon.
The midday protest followed a rally in Riverside Gardens Park, where god, the U.S. Constitution and the Second Amendment were also invoked.
State Senator Declan O’Scanlon in Red Bank in May. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
New Jersey state Senator Declan O’Scanlon accused Twitter of “Orwellian” behavior after the social media giant banned him over a three-week-old tweet Saturday.
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.”
After a year up on blocks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Doc Holiday Classic Car Show returned to Red Bank’s White Street parking lot Sunday.
With 270 vehicles on display and hundreds of car lovers admiring them, the event marked the return of large-scale public events following months of restrictions on gatherings. It was also the first in the lot since a makeover of the parking facility, which also hosts major spring-and-fall food festivals per year. One, the Guinness Oyster Festival, is scheduled to return September 26.
The car show, a scholarship fundraiser named for a late fire chief, is hosted by volunteer firefighters from the borough’s Liberty Hose company. Check out additional photos below. (Photos by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
A view of the Fair Haven council chamber in 2017. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
After 15 months of meeting via technology, the Fair Haven mayor and council plan to enter the post-pandemic era with an in-person meeting Monday night.
On the agenda: honors for three Eagle Scouts; a ban on cannabis businesses; discussion of 5G telecommunications and more.
Here’s the full agenda. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at borough hall, 748 River Road.
The East Side parking lots would get a makeover under an engineering contract on the agenda. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The Red Bank council has some weighty spending and hiring matters on its agenda when it meets this week.
The fair will return in August, said Councilman Mike McCue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
The summer-ending food-and-fun extravaganza known as the Fair Haven Firemen’s Fair will return in August, borough Councilman Mike McCue said Monday night.
That sparkler of news, another sign of the waning COVID-19 pandemic, came amid council action on the budget, cannabis, waterfront property and more.
Broadwalk bars vehicular traffic to enable restaurant expansions into Broad Street between Front and White Streets. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
With the second season of Red Bank’s Broadwalk about to begin in earnest – weather permitting – downtown merchants say the pedestrian dining and shopping concept is doing what it’s intended to do: improving their receipts.
A rendering of Saxum Real Estate’s approved but not-yet-built plan for 176 Riverside Avenue. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
A controversial plan to job out Red Bank’s in-house animal control service is expected to be tabled Wednesday night.
Here’s what’s on the agenda for the semimonthly meeting of the mayor and council.
Closed since early in the pandemic, Fair Haven’s borough hall and library will reopen June 7, administrator says. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
A new council member, a call for budget cuts, a planned reopening of borough hall and a pandemic ponytail were among the topics at what might have been the last Fair Haven council meeting of the pandemic Monday night.
An amendment to the parking ordinance would ban parking on the west side of Chapin Avenue, seen at left above. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The semimonthly session of the Red Bank council Wednesday night includes a police retirement and some hires, as well as a parking ban.
It also includes approval of a settlement in a type of tax appeal case that enraged commercial landlords two years ago.
The council meets via Zoom due to pandemic restrictions. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)
By JOHN T. WARD
The creation of a commission to examine Red Bank’s century-old government structure is on the table when the council holds its monthly workshop session Wednesday night.
So are renovations to the mothballed Senior Center and the swan song of Business Administrator Ziad Shehady.
Broadwalk, Red Bank’s foremost attempt to bolster downtown business in the COVID-19 pandemic, returns for a second year of mid-street strolling, dining and cone-licking Friday.