Let’s cancel NJ.com and go back to pigeons for our information. Sue Gioulis artist for BF.
Blogfinger cow should cancel his NJ.com subscription. Find an udder news source. Blogfinger.net photo
Neptune United increases awareness Sunday morning August 27, 2023. Blogfinger photo. OG boards. We don’t know who this photographer is.
By Paul Goldfinger Editor. Blogfinger.net
Here are some quotes from NJ.com dated September 1, 2023. Each quote is followed by a Blogfinger comment.
NJ.com headline: Sept. 1, 2023. “Jersey Shore town battling state over blocking access to beach on Sundays”
BF: This headline is wrong. Our “Jersey Shore town” is battling nobody over beach access.
NJ.com: “Ocean Grove and the state are in a standoff over the resort town’s rules limiting access to the Beach on Sunday mornings.”
BF: Ocean Grove is not in a “standoff” with the state. Nobody is in a standoff with the state over beach closures.
NJ.com: “The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association–the Methodist group that oversees the Ocean Grove section of Neptune in an unusual agreement with the Monmouth County township…”
BF: The CMA is not “in an unusual agreement” with Neptune Township. If there is an actual such “agreement,” then NJ.com should produce it. We have never seen it, and it would be of great interest if it exists. And the CMA does not “oversee” OG.
NJ.com: Badger is quoted. “We’re just trying to understand the law together because there are elements of this that are applicable in this situation that I don’t think have been adjudicated yet and has been fully fleshed out”
BF: If Michael Badger actually said this, he should get a cream pie in his face for creating a totally incomprehensible quote for public consumption.
NJ.com: “The boardwalk and pier remain open, and the beach is still accessible by walking along the sand either north from Bradley Beach or south from Asbury Park.”
BF. It is highly unlikely that such an obvious trespassing maneuver would be acceptable to the CMA . These reporters seem to think that this access is just fine. NJ.com should have investigated their statement.
NJ.com Shane Martin bigwig of Neptune United is quoted: “Every Sunday, since Memorial Day, Neptune United has been raising awareness,” Martins said.
BF: If that is true, they have been wasting their time over the last 3 months in Ocean Grove. “Raising awareness” consisted of about a dozen protesters last Sunday. This result is nothing to brag about, and few people in OG have been voicing their “awareness” as raised by Shane and his band of troublesome characters.
NJ.com: “Ocean Grove, referred to as God’s Square Mile by some has about 3,000 residents. Though it is only a small section of Neptune township it has a unique charter that allows it to set some of its own rules under the Camp Meeting Association”
BF: Until 1979, the CMA could write and enforce ordinances, but that was all turned over to Neptune. The CMA can “set its own rules” in places where it is in charge such as the beach, but those rules are not enforceable. And the NJ.com needs to produce the “unique charter” which they say is now in place.
Also the wording says that Ocean Grove can“set some of its own rules under the Camp Meeting Association.” This wording is utter nonsense–gibberish from the land of Gibber.
NJ.com quotes Badger, “The policy to close the Ocean Grove boardwalk entrances to the beach on Sunday mornings has been in place for 154 years..”
BF. Mr Badger should have been clearer . The policy until 1980 was to close the beach all day Sunday. The morning closures have only existed for perhaps 40 years.
Now maybe the next step should be to eliminate Sunday closures altogether, but NJ.com, home of sloppy OG journalism, needs to do a better job if it is to report on our town. The CMA sometimes confuses the name “Ocean Grove” with its own name, but journalists should know better.
SOUND TRACK: Repeat as needed to control symptoms.
PATSY CLINE:
Totally. I have suspected such a connection. PG
Just wondering: Does NU have an “in” with nj.com?. And with The Coaster? It certainly seems so. NU accuses the CMA, then nj.com and The Coaster print their ridiculous accusations as facts. Ditto the failing “Asbury Park” Press, which is down to less than 20k print, 2k digital daily copies per day.. I’m not expecting any hard-hitting investigative reporting from any of them, but they’d gain some respect and credibility (If they care) if they just kinda/sorta made the effort. Which they don’t. And won’t. Meanwhile, let’s regard them as nothing more than mouthpieces for NU, the always angry anti-CMA organization.
To put the beach closing in perspective. On average, county, state and federal parks tend to be closed from dusk till dawn, about 10 hours. That’s 70 hrs a week, 280 hrs a month or 560 hrs for the two summer months. They’re closed for maintenance or lack of staff.
While the OGCMA closes the beach for 6 hrs a week or 24 hrs a month of a total of 48 hrs for the two summer months.
All of these entities have a right to close their tax exempt property for either maintenance reasons or staff reasons.
If this silly protest goes to court, the OGCMA may even be granted the right to close the beach even for greater hours because they could prove their 48 hrs is far to little compared to all other parks.