Asbury Park Boardwalk. c. 2014. Paul Goldfinger photo © Click to see that three’s not a crowd. Re-posted from 2016.
BILLIE HOLIDAY AND HER ORCHESTRA. From the Woody movie Celebrity
Archive for the ‘Asbury Park lifestyles’ Category
How sweet it is…..
Posted in Asbury Park, Asbury Park lifestyles, Blogfinger Presents, tagged Ain't misbehaven in Asbury Park on June 10, 2018| Leave a Comment »
The Asbury Effect in O. Grove….
Posted in Asbury connection with Ocean Grove, Asbury Park lifestyles, tagged Asbury Park affluence on June 4, 2018| 1 Comment »
A tale of two cities. By Jean Bredin at the Giant OG Flea Market, photographing between two extremes. 6/2/18 Blogfinger staff ©
By Paul Goldfinger, MD Editor@Blogfinger.net
A recent ad at Zillow said that the average sale price of an Ocean Grove house is $800,000- $900,000. And there are more now that are over $1,000,000. Do you think that the Asbury Effect is contributing to the rising prices in the Grove?
A few days ago a piece in the NY Times discussed the new 17 story tower going up on the oceanfront where the price levels will be among the highest anywhere. Here is a quote from that article:
“Today, a 17-story tower with contoured glass is nearing completion on the parcel where two previous developers had failed. But in a town that is now one of the Jersey Shore’s most popular destinations, with a refurbished boardwalk and a bounty of new restaurants and breweries, the development is still a high-stakes gamble that people will be willing to pay Hamptons-like prices of nearly $1 million to nearly $6 million for oceanfront condominiums.
“The project, called the Asbury Ocean Club, is the pinnacle of a $300 million investment by iStar, a developer that about eight years ago made a significant bet that this once-forlorn city could attract wealthy residents while still retaining the quirky, artistic character that has made it appealing to visitors.”
Asbury girls in their summer clothes. NY Times photo caption says, “Asbury Park boardwalk has been refurbished.” Really? Nothing refurbished about those legs. (PG )
The Asbury story is complicated, and we have posted about that subject with special interest in how the AP story will affect Ocean Grove, particularly in terms of real estate pricing and marketing, cultural runoff, and resident demographics. Other issues which may be affected include the water quality in Wesley Lake, the noise levels, congestion in town, and the parking wars.
We see Asburian nomads park near our North End home causing parking gridlock, but even more so, we see the kinds of people as they walk towards the New Jersey Avenue bridge. They are frequently young and boisterous, often with New York plates, dressed trendy—often looking sophisticated/affluent, with jackets/ties/evening dresses, animated loud talk, tattoos, all white people, prestige cars, and, as they walk through the Grove they show no apparent interest in our historic architecture. The young women love the F word, but in the Grove it stands for “flea”—as in flea market.
I suspect that some of the new home buyers in the Grove will be like that—being here but with their sights on A.Park. What does that mean?—a different Grove, for better or worse.
The Times article linked below was brought to our attention by a Grover who says, “I’ve been watching this on my bike rides, with curiosity.” But maybe she also has been watching with concern.
Times link: Click on the photo below.
AMY WINEHOUSE: (From her album Back to Black) “What kind of pluckery is this?” Hip town requires hip lyrics.
Girls in their summer clothes–Asbury boardwalk edition courtesy of the NY Times (July, 2016)
Posted in Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles, Girls in summer clothes Jersey shore on February 4, 2018| Leave a Comment »
This photo was part of a NY Times article on July 5 (linked in our Asbury Hotel piece). Photo by Tony Cenicola. They had a Mermaid Parade (a la Coney Island)
Could her name be Denise? Here are Randy and the Rainbows :
A. Park——a quiet time near the beach.
Posted in Asbury Connection, Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles, Blogfinger Presents, tagged Asbury Park all year round on December 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Paul Goldfinger © Asbury Park, 2015. Click to enlarge. Blogfinger.net
BROADWAY CAST OF HELLO DOLLY, 2017 edition.
Sunset Lake in A. Park
Posted in Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles, Photograph by Paul Goldfinger, Photographic Gallery: New Jersey, Photography in Asbury Park, tagged Photo: Sunset Lake in Asbury Park on November 14, 2017| Leave a Comment »
St. John’s Island. Sunset Lake. Asbury Park. There is a white shore bird on the island which is hard to see. It is an immature great blue heron. Paul Goldfinger ©
BOB DYLAN “Once Upon a Time.” From his album Triplicate.
The other side of A. Park: Café Volan on Bangs
Posted in Asbury Connection, Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles, Blogfinger Presents, tagged Café Volan Asbury park on September 14, 2017| Leave a Comment »
A blond in a black dress ordering coffee. That’s who you see around a corner in A. Park at Café Volan. Paul Goldfinger photo © 9/14/17 Click to enlarge.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger.net
It seems like Greenwich Village by the sea. Café Volan can be a bit hard to find. It’s tucked into a side street, at an angle off of Cookman, unobtrusive on the left side of Bangs Avenue.
When you walk in, it feels like a beat up Beatnik hangout from the sixties. You expect to find Alan Ginsburg sipping an espresso. The crowd is not boisterous; in fact it is downright in whisper mode with no laughing. The customers seem serious, but maybe that’s because they are seriously enjoying a superb cup of real coffee. The cappuccino’s are excellent, although they serve them warm–the baristas say that’s the correct temperature.
I like the vibe at Café Volan. Steve Valk, who is spending a month in the Grove (from Germany where he lives) loves to go there, and it is not because of the V thing. It’s about the mood and the coffee. We met there to discuss a variety of subjects. The place feels comfortable.
Steve is is enjoying his family in the Grove while developing some serious academic ideas as he plans for his PhD studies. Next week he will go to Duke for discussions with faculty there.
But now, in the Grove–where he spent his childhood summers—he tries to figure out how we could obtain some coherence among the Groverian factions. Steve has a lot of experience working with diverse populations and he is an optimist.
He wants to meet with anybody in authority: CMA/Neptuners/HOA or whoever would agree to talk to him (besides Blogfinger—we like to talk to Steve) because he has ideas as to how to pull this town together.
Personally, I don’t see much chance of that without a sea change in attitudes among Grovers of various stripes.
BOB DYLAN. He would like Volan. He played a lot of coffee houses in the day. This song is from his latest album Triplicate.
“I Could Have Told You” is a Sinatra song and a standard. It’s a far cry from the folk music scene of the fifties and sixties, but Volan is a far cry from Bleeker Street and the Bitter End.
Is Asbury Park as marvelous as they say? The AP chamber of Commerce says, “More than a million visitors came to Asbury Park last year.”
Posted in Asbury Park lifestyles, Asbury Park news on Blogfinger.net, Blogfinger Presents, tagged Asbury Park best shore town on August 6, 2017| Leave a Comment »
New York Times, July, 2016. Fake news. Photograph by Tony Cenicola NYT.
This is Asbury Park in December 2016. They want to be a year-round attraction, but that goal seems to be a stretch—or is it? Paul Goldfinger photo of the Asbury Beach near Ocean Grove. ©
A. Park. Sunday 3 pm 8/6/17. Beach and boards very busy. A long line waits for Korean food (MOGO). Cuban music wafts from Cubacan. Blogfinger photo. © Click to see more.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger.net.
It’s good to keep tabs on the neighbors. The “small city” just north of us is being treated to a media blitz that is designed to promote tourism to our “sister city” on the other side of the Casino. There is no doubt that the deluge of visitors to Asbury Park is increasing, and we are positioned awfully close to this rapidly expanding and increasingly “in-our-face” place. The Asburian invasion is real and is causing rising density and parking problems in the Grove.
What do you Grovers think about the way that Asbury Park is progressing? What is it adding up to, and how will it affect Ocean Grove? We have spoken about the AP connection to the Grove and about how these two much different towns could compliment each other.
The photograph top above was part of a NY Times article extolling the beach community of Asbury Park. The caption says:
Over the course of the last year or so, Asbury Park has been named to a variety of “best” lists including being named #1 as “the coolest small town in America” by Budget Travel Magazine.
Source: http://us.pressfrom.com/lifestyle/travel/-56239-asbury-park-named-coolest-small-town-in-america/
Travel site Thrillist named AP as among the “25 best beaches in America.”
USA Today said that the Asbury Hotel was the “best new hotel in America for 2016.”
Thrillist named AP to its list of “the top 13 beach destinations for tourists.”
Travel and Leisure magazine named AP as the “tenth best travel destination in the world.” It ranked higher than Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Daily Meal named the beach bar by Convention Hall as one of the “top 25 beach bars in America.” What in the world can you do with bloody Marys and clams on the half shell?
The New York Post said that Asbury Park “had finally made it” as a top tourist attraction in America. Here is a link to our recent article about what was said at the Post:
NY Post article on Asbury Park
Car rentals.com named AP #14 to its “20 most unique cities to visit in your 20’s.”
NJ.com chose AP as “the top beach in Monmouth County.”
Oh, does Ocean Grove get any respect? NJ.com made a list of “the best things to do in each of the Jersey Shore’s 47 towns.” Even Deal is there, a town with nothing to do, but OG? You guessed it; we were AWOL. But that’s probably a good thing if we want to lower density in the Grove.
VINCE GIORDANO AND THE NIGHTHAWKS “Darktown Strutters Ball” from HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. (A show about prohibition bootleggers in Atlantic City.)
Clowning around in A. Park
Posted in Asbury Park Connection Photo Gallery, Asbury Park lifestyles, Blogfinger Presents, Zombie Walk Asbury Park, tagged Asbury zombies on July 18, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Zombie clowns—October, 2013. A. Park. Paul Goldfinger portrait © Did someone say, “Send in the clowns!” C’mon Stephen, cut it out.
JUDY GARLAND AND GENE KELLY
Rainy days and Mondays
Posted in Asbury Connection, Asbury Park lifestyles on June 5, 2017| Leave a Comment »
Asbury Park. Monday June 5, 2017. Paul Goldfinger photo. © Click to enlarge.
THE CARPENTERS
