The hollowed-out Casino has become a passageway — a two-way covered arcade — to connect the Grove with Asbury Park. People seek it out for photography, live music, somersaults, flirting, dancing, walking, running, traversing on wheels or on sneakers, marrying, hugging, eating ice cream, or seeking/making art. Tell us what you’ve seen there (comments below).
Here we have a glamorous photo shoot. This crew is enjoying the special light of the space, but they are not being careful, because there is a giant octopus whose sucker-laden tentacle will soon get tired of its current lascivious location and perhaps will slither over to grab young Fay Wray down there on the Casino floor.
SOUNDTRACK: I was thinking of the James Bond movie Casino Royal, when I found this piece called “Octopussy — All Time High.”
“Octopussy” is the name of the 13th Bond film, and this theme by the City of Prague Philharmonic opens the film. Although the music has nothing directly to do with our model, who is about to be devoured in the Casino connecting the Grove to Asbury Park, she is pretty as a picture, and, like her, the music is beautiful.
THE FOO FIGHTERS were there. In case you missed them, this is their song “Summer’s End.” From the album— Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
The Foo Fighters (internet photo)
“Meet me in the summertime
We can move the air
Sweet Virginia countryside
I will meet you there
Golden lips and cherry wine
Moonshine in your hair
Just keep staring at the sun,
Pray for summer’s end”
The thing about contemporary rock music seems to be that the lyrics do not have to be coherent. Oftentimes you can’t even understand the actual words, much less get the meaning.
But I think that’s OK. Poetry has been like that for a long time. You need to figure out the lyrics now, if you can. Here are a couple more lines from “Summer’s End.”
“Come on over brave my storm
Oceans overhead
Come inside, my friend
Getting bad out there”
I’d like to think that the kids at Bamboozle last year actually gave some thought to the meaning of the lyrics. If they do, then it is a good thing. Consider this from another generation:
Get a Job by Silhouettes
“Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Sha na na na, sha na na na na,
Yip yip yip yip yip yip yip yip
Mum mum mum mum mum mum
Get a job Sha na na na, sha na na na na”
Cyclists from Bradley Beach cross the border and head north in the Grove on Friday afternoon, Sept. 14, 2012. Not allowed! All photos by Paul Goldfinger
This is the sign that those Bradley interlopers blithely ignored. Blogfinger photo.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor, Blogfinger.net (Sept 14, 2012.)
Most of us are, at least, vaguely aware of the rules about bike riding on the boardwalk in Ocean Grove. Bikers know that bicycles are banned on our boards from 10 a.m. to 3 am. daily in season. So, you can ride from 3 am to 10 am in season.
After Labor Day we might think that we may ride our bikes whenever we want on the OG boards. But, not so fast! See sign above. You don’t get a free-to-ride pass until October 1.
For some, the best boardwalk bike ride is from OG all the way south to Spring Lake, while others look forward to riding through the Casino and continuing north along the Asbury boards. That’s a nice ride to take with someone on a trike or with a couple of kids.
This afternoon (2012) I went to Asbury Park and walked my bike on the boards. As soon as I arrived on the north side of the Casino, a sign was present that said bicycle riding was permitted only from 6 a.m. to noon daily.** But no dates were mentioned. Was it like that only in season? Three APPD officers walked by, and I asked them about it. They said that a new rule was implemented in the last few weeks that continued the bicycle restrictions all year long.*
I visited the Brielle Cyclery (somebody tell the BF grammarian that “cyclery” is a real word) at 1200 Ocean Avenue, on the Asbury boardwalk, near McLoon’s. (Please don’t drink and bike—that is a BUI felony.)
This is a large shop that offers rentals, sales and service. The young lady inside did not know the boardwalk biking rules, but she didn’t care because she said that most of the police do not stop bikers unless their riding became hazardous—except, she said, for one “older” officer who tends to be “grumpy.” We hear there is another APPD officer who tends to be sneezy.
Then I went back in the Grove and found two signs that gave mixed messages—one above and this one. This one does not clarify if they mean “in season.”
Baby, what I say? Blogfinger photo.
I went home and called the Neptune PD for more information regarding the actual ordinance. When I told the operator what I wanted, she said,”Hold on” and then I found myself listening to a message at the Mother Ship, which was closed.
Then I approached a Neptune PD officer and asked him. He admitted that he did not know the rule, but that he had no intention of stopping any biker today since the boardwalk was not crowded. He guessed that biking in OG was restricted only from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Finally I found the actual Neptune ordinance on-line. The truth is below:
“No person shall operate a bicycle, roller-blades or a skateboard in the following designated areas from May 1 to October 1, between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m., on the Ocean Grove Boardwalk, within the boundaries of the Township of Neptune, between the boundaries of the City of Asbury Park and Borough of Bradley Beach.”
So, there it is. We can bike unfettered on our boardwalk come October 1, but don’t think you can breeze through into AP, because you might run into Officer Grumpy (to be distinguished from Officer Krupke).
So what is the moral of the story? It seems that our small OG laws (e.g. bike rules on the boards) can be ignored (like yard sale permits or hanging signs on poles) without risk of running afoul of the law. Yet many of us are uncomfortable violating the rules, so for those of you who are gutless weenies, just follow the rules and you will sleep well at night and set a good example for the children and for all those yahoos.com who pedal on our boards in the afternoon in season and who fail to signal when turning.
2022 Asbury update: ** I went to the AP boards at 7 pm on 9/17/22 and saw the AP Police riding back and forth in their SWAT team golf cart telling bicyclists to walk their bikes.
The next day I found a barely legible sign past the Casino on the AP side. It said that there is no bike riding from 10 am to midnight. So, you can ride from midnight to 10 am. It’s not clear if that is year round or seasonal.
OG and AP agree that morning bike riding is OK until 10 am in season.
After October 1, you can ride on the OG boards whenever you are in the mood, but if that AP sign is to be believed, you can ride bikes there only from midnight to 10 am in all seasons.
DEPARTMENT OF PLAIN ENGLISH
OG. in season: ride from 3 am to 10 am
OG after Oct. 1: ride whenever
AP year round: ride from midnight to 10 am
So, if you are a teenager in love, in the off season, and you want to have an afternoon bike date on the boardwalk, come to Ocean Grove where the living is easy and the cotton is high:
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.
“And the boys from the casino dance with their shirts open like Latin lovers on the shore
Chasing all them silly New York virgins by the score
“And Sandy, the aurora is rising behind us
This pier lights our carnival life forever
Oh, love me tonight, for I may never see you again
Hey, Sandy girl
My, my, baby…”
