Heck Avenue–where the events occurred. Blogfinger photo. Sept. 2014

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger

Ocean Grove is a tiny town, perhaps .5 sq. miles. But there are neighborhoods here that have unique problems that might require neighborhood activism to solve. Today we have the lakeside dwellers near Wesley Lake, the irate parkers at the North End where Asbury mooches go to escape AP tolls, and the flooded denizens of the southeast  Broadway area.

In addition there are special interest groups that are based on non-geographic issues such as the Ocean Grove United members, the renters, the Camp Meeting supporters, the parents of school age kids, the merchants, senior citizens, etc.

None of these focused groups should totally depend on Neptune Township or OG organizations (such as the Home Groaners Assoc. and the Chamber of Commerce) to take an interest in their particular problems.

Neighborhood and special interest activism is the answer. We saw that in 2007 with the formation of OGU. We are seeing that now as some neighbors from the Broadway flood zone have formed a pressure group to get something done to alleviate their specific concerns.

Activism of this sort is not new in Ocean Grove. Witness the citizens who combined their clout and energy to turn the downward spiral around back in the ’90’s. And below is an example of such neighborhood activism in the late 1990’s. We interviewed two of the principals who were directly involved.

We take you back to a particular block at the westernmost reaches of Heck Avenue. There were a group of neighbors who were diverse and included an unmarried social worker, an artist and her husband, a college student, a retiree, some young people with kids, a senior couple, an OG fireman, and others. They knew each other because of the Grove’s unique porch culture. They were used to talking amongst themselves.

One day, in the summer of 1999, a group of 3 or 4 “suspicious ” men (“kids”) in their early 20’s moved into a crummy rental property owned by an absentee landlord. These guys were “rude, aggressive, nasty and obnoxious.” One had a “menacing” pit bull that he let intimidate other dogs on the block. There were noisy parties and loud music. Cigarette butts were tossed around the area, and a “steady stream of cars were coming and going at all hours.”

The neighborhood already had a worrisome situation with a crappy grocery store called “Grandma’s Market” down the street where there currently is a bakery.   No one shopped there because the place reeked from cigarette smoke and all they sold were newspapers, bread and a few other things. There were characters there who appeared “unsavory.” The police had been called many times.

The neighbors noticed the new guys and suspected that they were drug dealers. They formed an impromptu neighborhood watch, and after solidifying their observations they called the Neptune Police Dept. Most of the activist group were women.

This Heck Avenue group was persistent (“no letup”) over the course of several months, and soon the police had set up a surveillance outpost on the second floor of a house across the street from the bad actors. It took courage for that homeowner and others who were poking around the situation to stay involved because those characters  didn’t leave right away. The women who were involved gave each other “moral support” to continue their efforts. They did not want those men to “degrade our neighborhood and impose their life-style on us.”

Subsequently there were arrests made on four occasions , and this “emboldened” the group to continue, but none of those bad guys were jailed despite indications that drug dealing (heroine) was actually occurring. The neighbors did not know why they were arrested and then released.   Perhaps there wasn’t enough evidence. The group was disappointed, but they kept watching and discussing.

Finally, a man who lived next door to that rental house, contacted the landlord and threatened to sue him if those renters did not leave. The landlord finally got worried and pressured his tenants to vacate the premises. He may have paid them off. That plus the continuous pressure brought by the police and the watchful neighbors eventually solved the problem.

A short time later, the grocery was shut down by the police—The neighbors suspected some sort of criminal activity, although we don’t know the facts.  Now the block  had reached a better place and it has continued to be fine since then.

It’s not a totally satisfying story, but the hyper-local activist group that pushed and pushed and took chances can be credited with helping to solve a serious problem that threatened the quality of life for all the people around there. Later, the neighbors got together and planted trees up and down that block. It is a lovely and happy place today in 2014.

There is a side story here—-a romance—a happier ending:  Once the bad guys left, the owner, who was shaken by the whole thing, sold the house at a low price to a single gentleman.   Eventually he and one of the female activists got to know each other and subsequently they married and lived happily thereafter in that same neighborhood. (as the song When You Wish Upon a Star says “…like a bolt out of the blue, fate steps in and sees you through.”)

CELTIC WOMAN: