The siren call of the Asburian night life.. Paul Goldfinger photo of the AP skyline across Wesley Lake. © 2019. Click once to enlarge.
By Eileen and Paul Goldfinger, Editors at Blogfinger.net
Scene: It is a stifling peak-season sunny July Saturday afternoon. The Grove is crowded and there is nary a parking space except for one across from where we are standing.
Eileen and I are gardening on the Delaware Ave. side of our house. A car pulls into that sole remaining space, and a young man emerges. He looks around and then walks over to us.
He: Can I park here?
We: Yes, but be sure you are close to the curb.
He: Checking his tires. “I work at the Brick Wall in Asbury, and someone told me that I can park in Ocean Grove for free.”
We: It’s not only the workers who park here, but your customers as well, and we’re not happy with the idea.
He: Oh….I’m sorry.
We: No need to apologize. It is legal for you to park here.
He: I’ve been paying over $100.00 week to park for work.
We: Wow. (We felt bad for him….he obviously is a “working stiff.”)
He: Well, thank you.
We: It’s OK. Bye.
He: Smiles and heads towards the New Jersey Avenue Bridge across Wesley Lake to A. Park.
We: We agree that A. Park is exploiting their workers by neither providing parking or paying for parking. $100.00 is a lot for this worker. We should feel compassion for these young people, but this is Asbury’s problem to solve, and it is a reasonable concern for Grovers.
The AP City Council refused a plea from Neptune to help us with this parking situation which is their fault, and now they demand that we open our bridge-gates.
That is chutzpah!
BILLY ECKSTINE:
Tom Pritchard of Ocean Grove advises us that there are permit parking permits available in Asbury Park for employees at $15.00 per month.
https://www.cityofasburypark.com/DocumentCenter/View/615/2019-Employee-Permit-Parking-Guide-PDF