Blogfinger

The Casino: Where Asbury Park and Ocean Grove Meet. Photo by Paul Goldfinger

 

By Paul Goldfinger, editor

In the July 14, 2011 issue of the triCity News is  a review of a new restaurant on Cookman Avenue called “Toast.”  It is an unsigned article which contains this quote, “…what really interests us is the potential of Toast to bring a whole new creative class of people from Montclair to Asbury Park–and that demographic is what we’re always after. It’s what revitalized our city.  Such people are a natural fit for our wonderfully bizzaro city of Asbury Park.”    Really??

So let’s get this straight:   The “revitalization” of Asbury Park requires a demographic that is so wonderful and special that it needs to be imported from Montclair, the place where “Toast” opened its original establishment.

I guess this might come as a surprise to all those ordinary citizens who have been working so hard and for so long to bring back a place that began its comeback before any fancy folks started their gentrification efforts.   Maybe most of those who struggled to get AP on its feet might not share the author’s vision that a “bizzaro” community is what is desired.

What does this have to do with Ocean Grove? Well in the Grove we have a wonderful mixture of demographics including many of  the sorts of creative people that triCity would like to attract from Montclair.

Maybe the folks in AP  and at the triCity News might want to look across Wesley Lake to OG to  find the kinds of  people who could help support the revitalization of our Asburian “sister city”  (as it was called many years ago.)

I bet that most of Asbury’s citizens want a town where a variety of people come together to further the renaissance that is currently in progress.  Unless AP wants to become toast, it needs to find a different message than the “bizarro” one quoted above.

 

SHIRLEY MACLAINE

 

• Email
• Print

Posted in Editorial | Tagged Editorial: Elitism in Asbury Park | 8 Comments

8 Responses

1. on July 21, 2011 at 7:38 pm Lauren

   My husband and I tried Toast this week too. We both greatly enjoyed it.

   
   
2. on July 21, 2011 at 5:10 pm Monica

   I don’t know Paul…but sometimes I have found your commentary to be “bizzaro” as well….take it with a grain of salt and “let them eat cake” on Heck! Just sayin’ (PS…I went to Toast for lunch today and really enjoyed it….years ago, I lived NEAR Montclair…does that count?)

   
   
3. on July 21, 2011 at 11:42 am Michael

   The Tri-City has sunk into self-parody over the last two years. As a semi-long term resident down here (6 plus years) and personally seen the change in Asbury Park, the writers and editors of the TCN would like you to think they were personally responsible for the transition.

   The article is laughable as Asbury and the surrounding areas are packed with creative/artistic types that have made great contributions to the area. What the area really means is that they want to see creative/artistic people WITH money backing them in the area so they can further push Asbury into an elitist type community on their side of the tracks.

   What has happened to Asbury has been a beautiful thing, but it is starting to digress into a trendy/artist clique environment – for the fact that I can’t even get a table at half the restaurants in Asbury anymore is both a blessing and curse. Prices have ballooned at a few of my favorite eateries on Cookman and I think they will continue as long as the elitist crowd catches on to the “hip spot”.

   Pretty soon I will have to rely on Asbury Lane’s tater tots to get a modestly priced meal there LOL

   
   
4. on July 20, 2011 at 11:00 pm Mary Beth Jahn

   Ah, welcome to the long-time rivalry between Asbury Park and Neptune. It doesn’t live just on the high school football field!

   
   
5. on July 20, 2011 at 4:54 pm Mary-Ellen

   Just got back from lunch at TOAST in Asbury Park.
   I am a 50 something female from Bergen County and summer resident of Ocean Grove. I had the best lobster roll this side of heaven. The restaurant was so pretty and gave full attention to every aspect of the dining experience. I suggest everyone try out this new place and forget about the comments in the TriCity News.
   Let’s just enjoy a really good place to eat!

   
   
6. on July 19, 2011 at 1:48 pm ken

   And just where did the people who have revitalized Asbury Park come from?

   
   
7. on July 19, 2011 at 11:11 am Paul @Blogfinger

   Iris: I am well aware of the TCN’s usual style of writing, although I don’t read it very often. This article, however, struck me as being really obnoxious. But Iris, now that we have discussed my reading habits, what do you think about the TCN article?

   
   
8. on July 19, 2011 at 8:56 am Iris

   Is this the first time you’ve read the triCity News? They’ve been writing stuff like that since they started publishing.

   
   

Comments are closed.