Asbury Park. July 29, 2002. Paul Goldfinger photo ©. Click to make the crowd bigger. Blogfinger.net

We were in A. Park when Bruce Springsteen launched his album  The Rising on July 29, 2002.  It was about his feelings regarding 9-11.

It was like a scene from Brigadoon.  Ordinarily no one was on the beach in AP, even in the summer. It was like a ghost town.  But this day, the beach was mobbed, and there was live music.  Celebrities were there, bright lights illuminated where the Today Show was being filmed at the water’s edge, with Katie Couric getting wet up to her knees.  Danny DeVito was to be interviewed on the beach. It was all very festive. On the boardwalk there were dancers and all sorts of characters looking on.

Danny DeVito on the beach in AP. He was born in Neptune and raised in Asbury Park. Paul Goldfinger photo ©  He’s wearing his hat from his production company “Jersey Films.”  Blogfinger.net

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN  from the album The Rising. “My City of Ruins” was dedicated to Asbury Park. It was first performed in Convention Hall in 2000.