Pistoia, Italy. 1996. By Paul Goldfinger. Click once to enlarge.
MARIA CHIARA. From the opera La Wally by Alfredo Catalina
a. 15th Annual Blogfinger Town-Wide Yard Sale on June 27, 2026 . In mid May we will begin collecting addresses. There will be a post on our home page where sellers and browsers will be able to see “The List.” As before, we encourage sellers all over town to participate. The more we have participating, the more successful our event will be.
Suggest to your friends that joining the sales will be rewarding and fun. But no getting high in the Grove. Combining sales is a great idea.
BEATLES:
Note that Neptune Township will be sponsoring a series of yard sales on different weekends in June. Don’t confuse that with our event which will be run the same way that we have done for the last 15 years as a good-time social event for for all over the town of Ocean Grove. Parking should be easy. From out of town, bring a bicycle, park wherever, and bike all over town.
OG. Artists: Keep in mind that you can show and sell your art at our yard sales, and you don’t have to pay any special fees or have your work approved. You can even show art by kids. Art on the Porch will not be held this season. Paul will be showing and selling his black and white photos at bargain prices.
b. Bird watching in the Grove. Report your findings; send us photos to Blogfinger@verizon.net. So far we have seen Northern Cardinals. Juncos, Song Sparrows, Redwing Blackbirds, Robin and and Towhees. This is a terrific springtime hobby to share with kids. Feed the birds to attract them, and especially fascinating are the migrants who visit our backyards and parks. Don’t forget Sandy Hook National Park. Take the kids and watch for the birds. Take binoculars and cameras. We will post good quality photographs of birds and other OG lifestyles.
A Rufus Towhee. Internet image. We saw one last week in OG.
c. CMA summer program guide: This is a very good guide to their many events all summer long. Watch for the amazing music at the Great Auditorium.
d. Watch for the opening of Nagles. It has been delayed.
e. Buy flowers at Wegman’s-–This is a perfect time of year to bring flowers home.
Roses from Wegman’s. Eileen Goldfinger photo. 4/24/26
NEIL DIAMOND AND BARBRA STREISAND
f. Can any of you recommend an A. Park Mexican eatery that stands out among the rest?
Plaza Tapatia. Paul Goldfinger photo. 2017 Birthday party with real Mexicans.
g. A special dinner at UVA in Bradley Beach:
Eileen’s dinner at Uva this his week. An idea for a casual and delicious choice: Turn an appetizer into dinner! Eileen photo.
Eileen ordered a garlic shrimp appetizer which normally is served over special bread, but she chose angel hair pasta. The jumbo shrimp are simmered in garlic, butter, fresh tomato and basil. It was served with the famous Pagano rolls. I had a similar dish, but I ordered a mussels appetizer made with an Italian white wine and garlic.
We started with a Cesar salad which we shared, and it was wonderful. And we shared one generous glass of French Pinot. No dessert. There was even some take-home.
And our dinner was delicious and came to about $100.00 with tip.
Let us know if you have suggestions for our Blabfinger Shorts.
h. Wine tip. I was at Wegmans today and I was startled in the wine shop. Searching the French display for Beaune reds, I found that all those French wines had gone up significantly in price, supposedly due to the tariffs . So I got a more affordable Pinot Noir in the Oregon section.
FROM GUYS AND DOLLS:
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Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington DC. Internet photo.
There isn’t much Hanukkah music out there that I am not familiar with, but Jean Bredin, Blogfinger staff, came up with this You Tube treat for the Festival of Lights by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC. It is quite superb, and the hand clapping, although not unusual in pop music, is less common in choral pieces.
So here is the Hanukkah music that I never heard before, but it is a fine addition to a limited repertoire.
Paul Goldfinger, Editor @blogfinger
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Scene: A senior citizen goes to the counter to pick up his prescription for Viagra at Wegmans. He is greeted by a young, pretty pharmacist.
He: ” I’m here to pick up my prescription.”
She: She asks his name. “I have to check the computer.” (She types into her computer)
She: “Your prescription won’t be ready for two hours. Do you need it right now?”
He: (Laughing—is momentarily speechless)
She: There is a pause then the tiniest of smiles emerges on her face.
He: “2 hours will be fine”
—Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
WOODY ALLEN from “Everyone Says I Love You.”
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Bunche Beach. Ft. Myers, Florida. Paul Goldfinger © Feb. 2019.
LEE REMICK. Original Broadway Cast album of “Anyone Can Whistle.” (1964). by Stephen Sondheim:
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Be the first to name this Jersey Shore town and win a Paul Goldfinger signed B&W print. 4/23/26. Please send your address and email. This image is by Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger. net
DEAN MARTIN:
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5/29/22 From a promotion photographed in A. Park by Stephen Goldfinger. Blogfinger staff. ©
Here is a 2018 quote published in Blogfinger:
“In May 2018, the Asbury Park Press interviewed Jack Green about the North End Redevelopment:
The paper quoted him: “I think it’s exciting to finally have something move forward,” said Jack R. Green, a real estate broker who lives in Ocean Grove.
He said, “The new development will help Ocean Grove compete with tourism in Asbury Park.”
I don’t recall ever hearing the Master Plan or other voice of reason in the Grove suggest that OG should “compete” with A. Park. Such an idea would be faint praise for supporting the ill-begotten project at the North End.
The future of this region will be best if we cheer Asbury Park on while striving to keep Ocean Grove the quaint, small town, diverse historic community which it has been.
Paul Goldfinger Editor Blogfinger.net
Editor’s note April 2026. Travel and Leisure Magazine just named Asbury Park as the second best place to live in New Jersey. They have received similar praise from other sources in the past.
Clearly Asbury Park has evolved quickly, and we will never catch it, but so what?
We need to mature in ways that suit Ocean Grove. The two towns are not comparable
Asbury Park has been pronounced a rising star by the media and it will continue to sweep higher and higher.
But the Grove cannot even begin to achieve its potential unless imaginative citizens get interested.
Compete with Asbury? Forget it!. Their prior awards have been mostly nonsense.
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Elizabeth McGovern as Deborah. Paul Goldfinger still photo from the 1984 movie by Sergio Leone. She is with Robert DeNiro in this wonderful romantic scene.
“Deborah’s Theme” from Once Upon a Time in America movie soundtrack by Ennio Morricone.
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Chef Anthony Pagano of Uva’s Restaurant in Bradley Beach helps Eileen make pasta in her OG kitchen. Paul Goldfinger photo.
By Eileen and Paul Goldfinger. Blogfinger.net. 2021.
This Saturday night, Tony was catering a large dinner party at our OG home. Eileen insisted on making the pasta, but when Tony arrived, he walked into the kitchen and found Eileen struggling to finish the pasta for so many people. So he took over and guided her through the process.
We have known Tony and his family from when the Pagano’s had their restaurant on Ocean Avenue in Bradley Beach. Now Tony is the owner-chef at Uva’s fine friendly family Italian restaurant at 800 Main St. in Bradley Beach. They also have a happy bar scene with live music and a Tiki bar in summer.
The authentic Italian menu is outstanding including the pizza. Welcome to downtown Sicily.
2025 update. Tony is now Dad to 4 girls. His first daughter is Rafaella, the same name as his Mom who works in the restaurant as the hostess.
CAB CALLOWAY:
Note: Here’s a BF piece –a review of Matt’s Market in Wall where Eileen and I met Chef Tony.
Tony, Eileen and Matt’s Market
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Colorful and fun in Seaside Heights. Paul Goldfinger photo. Sept. 2022.
BRIAN WILSON.
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Ocean Grovers enjoy walking to downtown Asbury for restaurants, special events, music and a lively bar scene. Paul Goldfinger photograph for Blogfinger.net. 2016
Main Street at Asbury Avenue—a big disappointment. Someday Main Street will come to life. Blogfinger photo. 12/2/23.
This photo (A Sunday in July 2016) was part of a NY Times article; photo by Tony Cenicola. Asbury Park had a Mermaid Parade (a la Coney Island). Posted 2018 in Blogfinger. The Ocean front in A. Park is a huge summer success as is Cookman Avenue year round.
Lesbian and Gay Big Apple Corps produced a fine big sound heading east on Cookman Avenue for the Pride Parade. All photographs by Paul Goldfinger, Blogfinger.net. 6/7/15 . Click on all photos to enlarge.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger.net.
In 2016 we posted an article about the praise being lavished upon A. Park.
Last spring Money Magazine named AP as having the second best beachfront in the US, ahead of many famous locations in California, Texas, etc. “Asbury Park offers the classic combo of beach and boardwalk,” the magazine says.
The Asbury Park Press also reported that list. Asbury has also been ranked high for the city’s “cultural scene.” In 2017 it was named the “coolest small town in America.”
And also they have fine parks, an artist colony, a famous musical destination with a historic pedigree, many civic and religious organizations to help the town and the poor, and a wide variety of fascinating restaurants, coffee shops and specialty food stores such as the Creamery for amazing home made ice cream on Cookman. The restaurants in and around Cookman Ave. are a draw for tourists year round.
As a place to live, the condominium scene is excellent and growing, and there are some wide and beautiful avenues to the west of the tracks where restored single family homes prevail.
But, not so fast. Asbury has recently been reported to have the second highest violent crime rate in the state. And, according to the AP Sun, the city has been named this February to the “top 50 worst cities to live-in across the nation.” Similar reports have been mentioned in articles in the AP Press and the AP Patch.
Main Street hasn’t grown up yet; it has many low brow businesses and at least 6 Mexican restaurants. Parking in A. Park is still difficult, and restaurant tourism on Cookman relies on customers coming and going by Uber. Some visitors and workers park for free in Ocean Grove, much to the dismay of residents of that historic town to the south of A. Park.
There are quite a few charter schools around in the hope of rescuing the many poor and under-educated kids around. The high school is beautiful, but the test scores are not.
Among the statistics, the city is reported to be high in poverty rankings, low median incomes, and high median home prices.
So, which is it: best or worst?
Blogfinger: The best or the worst? “It depends on where you stand.”
Editor’s note April 21, 2026. : Travel and Leisure Mag. has named A. Park the second best place to live in New Jersey. Really? I think these awards are paid for.
NANCY LAMOTT: “Not Exactly Paris.”
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The Aurora at #6 Atlantic Avenue is now being marketed with 4 “historic condominiums.”
August 25, 2020. Blogfinger photos. ©
Here are some links on BF about the Aurora (and other posts can be found by searching above right:)
2018 Aurora: What will become of it?
Approval to convert the Aurora. Read this!
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net
The Aurora, built in 1884, was a historic hotel with 30 rooms. But Neptune Township has once again dumped on our single family zoning and on our Master Plan, permitting this illegal condominium conversion, and, incidentally, once again, with no significant parking. There is one narrow driveway and a single car garage.
That neighborhood will be negatively impacted, and it will be just another inappropriate cluttered mess to complement the proposed North End plan a few blocks away.
And as for the claim that these 4 condos are “historic,” that is just a lie. There is nothing historic about condominiums in this town. The promo on-line suggests that a prospective buyer “immerse yourself in the rich history of the Aurora.”
There will be nothing historic experienced by buyers of those expensive condominiums even though the sign says “RELIVE HISTORY.”
Go to http://www.auroraoceangrove.com.
It is true that the Aurora was a historic hotel, but that all changed when the prior owner turned it into a single family house. He had trouble selling it, but someone would have eventually bought it as a single family home. It would not have been the only large single family in the Grove. Have you seen some of the mansions on Ocean Avenue?
JERRY ORBACH:
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MESSAGE FROM BLOGFINGER.NET: Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor. Ocean Grove, NJ,, USA
a . The OG Camp Meeting Association has published their 2026 Summer Program Guide. President Nancy Ann Gillan wrote the opening “message”and she says, “You are invited to the nearly one thousand available programs and events.”
Those events are mostly religious based and will attract many Grovers and tourists. But many secular programs are also planned.
I have some favorite musical happenings: Summer Stars Classical Music Festival by Dr. Gordon Turk, Artistic Director; Thursday Organ Concerts; 72nd Annual Choir Festival; Annual Sacred Masterworks; Pops Concert: Celebration of the Silver Screen; American Tapestry 150th Anniversary Concert; Atlantic Wind Ensemble and many others.
It is doubtful that any other summer serious music schedule in the US can match this extraordinary high quality programming. And to hear music in the fabulous Great Auditorium must not be missed. Also the CMA offers many programs that are free or very reasonably priced.
Pick up a up a copy of this amazing schedule. Congratulations to the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association for this incredible achievement.
The CMA is looking for volunteers.
b. Remember “Art on the Porch?” Well it is no more. Last year’s effort by the Arts Center was a bust. Currently there is no plan for Art on the Porch this spring. But there are some possible town-wide arts shows this spring being organized by Grove artists. Watch for more info for these events and others. It looks like there is something happening nearly every day in the Grove this summer.
Here’s a treat. (“Autumn”) by Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony Orchestra from “The Four Seasons” by Vivaldi:
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