5/29/22 From a promotion photographed in A. Park by Stephen Goldfinger. Blogfinger staff. ©
Here is a 2018 quote published in Blogfinger:
“In May 2018, the Asbury Park Press interviewed Jack Green about the North End Redevelopment:
The paper quoted him: “I think it’s exciting to finally have something move forward,” said Jack R. Green, a real estate broker who lives in Ocean Grove.
He said, “The new development will help Ocean Grove compete with tourism in Asbury Park.”
I don’t recall ever hearing the Master Plan or other voice of reason in the Grove suggest that OG should “compete” with A. Park. Such an idea would be faint praise for supporting the ill-begotten project at the North End.
The future of this region will be best if we cheer Asbury Park on while striving to keep Ocean Grove the quaint, small town, diverse historic community which it has been.
Paul Goldfinger Editor Blogfinger.net
Editor’s note April 2026. Travel and Leisure Magazine just named Asbury Park as the second best place to live in New Jersey. They have received similar praise from other sources in the past.
Clearly Asbury Park has evolved quickly, and we will never catch it, but so what?
We need to mature in ways that suit Ocean Grove. The two towns are not comparable
Asbury Park has been pronounced a rising star by the media and it will continue to sweep higher and higher.
But the Grove cannot even begin to achieve its potential unless imaginative citizens get interested.
Compete with Asbury? Forget it!. Their prior awards have been mostly nonsense.