Jack Green Construction Company opens tents for 2020 season. NJ.com photo 5/12/20.
Paul Goldfinger photo. Summer 2019. Tourists visit Tent Village at night.
May 12, 2020
Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor@Blogfinger.net
President Michael Badger and Henry Will, CMA trustee who spends the summer in a tent, were interviewed today for an article in NJ.com about the opening of the 114 tent enclave despite the risks of the coronavirus. The author of the piece is Avalon Zoppo.
Will acknowledged that life in the tent colony was dense and close, but Badger was certain that spending 4 months in a tent there would pose no risk.
Yet Badger said, “Space is tight.”
This tightly packed Tent Village is a classic “congregate setting” which the CDC frowns upon as unsafe.
Will said that some life style adjustments might be needed to reduce the risks.
“We’ll have to modify some things,” Will said, “But I think we’ll still have community.”
“Badger said he’s confident dwellers will be safe vacationing at the shore for four months.”
He said that the canvas was better than a mask indoors and that his renters would follow all precautions outdoors as set forth by the state and the CDC.
The article quoted Badger as being reassured that if 6 foot distances were not possible then his renters would wear masks.
He said that he will also instruct people how close they should place their towel to others at the beach and how close to walk on the boardwalk.
But no one was interviewed who might have differing opinions about viral transmission in this “tight knit” environment.
As usual for the media, the reporter resorted to stereotypes and lack of careful research when describing the Grove. He said, “Ocean Grove is a largely religious community of about 4,200 year round residents founded by a group of Methodists…” He doesn’t have a clue as to how people live who rent in Tentland.
And he did not ask a single probing question about the viral dangers amongst the tents or about the risks to everyone in town due to huge unrestrained tourist events coming up, many sponsored by the CMA.
Is it possible that the reporter is unaware of the terrible pandemic currently enveloping the state of New Jersey?
This decision to go ahead with putting hundreds of people into a space that is as close as a refugee camp seems to be astonishingly irresponsible.
Badger said that 250 people will live there for the 4 month $7,000 summer rental. He didn’t mention all the visitors and tourists which are part of that active compressed social scene.
Even if Badger gets lucky and has no viral casualties, his reasoning is naive and dangerous. He is gambling with the lives of everyone who stays in or visits the Tent Village and secondarily with the lives of the many summer residents in the Grove proper.
And, by the way, this sentence was in the article: “Two workers tested positive for COVID-19 and were quarantined, pushing the opening back two weeks.”
ELLIS MARSALIS:
Here is a link to our recent post about health risks in Tent Village:
Today Pt. Pleasant is issuing residential parking permits for it’s residents, this prevents nonresidents from taking residents parking spaces. Additionally this helps to stop the spread of the virus. Where is Ocean Grove’s representation? Are we alone and drowning? Apparently the answer is yes. We may be at the Beach but there are no “LIFE GUARDS” to protect us from this Virus.
When the National Geographic came to OG around 1999 and spent a week here, they still wound up portraying our town as a religious community.
And almost every media account does the same thing, because the reporters love that “hook” even if the story is fake news. They hone in to the tents and the Auditorium and ignore the rest.
Here’s a post from 2015 where we discuss the problem of media madness re: OG
https://wp.me/pqmj2-rR1
How long has it been since Ocean Grove was, in fact, “largely” a religious community?
The debate isn’t whether the risk of infections will increase in Tent Village.
It is whether that risk is worth the pleasure of opening the tents and the boardwalk/beach.
Yes Paul. And thank you for putting things in honest perspective.
It sounds like you don’t agree that Ocean Grove has some peculiar characteristics that set it apart in terms of virus risks.
As noted, I think the Grove is more vulnerable to the coronavirus than most other shore towns for reasons stated.
The tents are just part of the larger problem of visitors and crowding at the Jersey Shore. Evidence suggests that the major source of transmission is respiratory droplets, so wearing a mask in public is essential while maintaining social distance.
Outdoors is less of a problem than confined spaces, and inside the tent is a family matter with members in close contact with one another anyway.
I don’t have problem with the tents if mask and distance guidelines are followed. We really need to learn to live with this terrible plague, and the beach and outdoor activities will be a major test of how well we can do that.
Isak – Exactly!
Sorry for the confusion. This was an actual news report in NJ.com. It was the first such news story that I had seen in the media besides ours.
Badger gave an interview to the NJ.com reporter regarding the tents opening, and the other man, Henry Will, who was identified as a CMA board member, also participated.
Whenever Badger appears in the press, only his side of the story is reported. The Coaster is famous for that, but the CMA advertises there. And the same applies to the Asbury Park Press.
Here is a link to the NJ.com piece dated May 12.
https://www.nj.com/news/2020/05/jersey-shores-150-year-old-tent-colony-going-up-despite-coronavirus-concerns.html
Im confused. Was this article a news story or a promo? Badger finally talked when he found the right reporter. Growing up in this town I remember the quiet winters. We nicknamed the town Ocean Grave because of it. Hopefully this does not take on a new meaning.
These are some of the same people who believed it was a good idea to put underground parking next to the ocean and a lake.
Badger gives me so much comfort when he makes unsubstantiated statements like the one that asserts the superiority of canvas over masks. Did he have a lab prove that point?
Very sad to think that the lives of residents have no value in Ocean Grove. God’s square mile indeed.