Blogfinger

The Aurora as seen by OG artist Jack Bredin (oil on canvas, 2018)

From the Blogfinger Editorial Staff:  2018.  Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor. Blogfinger.net

The Neptune Township Board of Adjustment awarded a use variance to the new owners of the Aurora to change the lot’s zoning from single family to a 4 family zone  (“spot zoning.”)

This new zone still only allows one building on the lot.  But it would allow the owner to put 4 condos in that one building as was described at the Board’s first hearing about the Aurora. A site plan was presented  then  which showed 2 units on each side, separated by a fire wall.    The owner promised an admirable historic restoration of the exterior.

Why didn’t this Board insist on the single family zoning that was present when the owner bought the property?  Do you think any promises were made to that owner, and who might have made those promises?

But now that the Board has given them this variance, they can have other options such as requesting a demolition permit to let them build 4 expensive single family houses, but that possibility could not happen without Bernie Haney, the Tax Assessor,  subdividing the lot into 4 lots –a potentially illegal maneuver.  However that sort of thing has occurred in the past in OG.

The HPC has not evaluated the project yet, but they will be interested only in the exterior plan.  Given their past history  (eg the Greek Temple, Mary’s Place, ugly condos)  don’t expect much from them.

If you look at Jack’s painting of the Aurora, you will see what a fine (historic)  building it is, but right behind it is an ugly condo where single family homes should have gone.

LEVON HELM  from the Imus Ranch Record:  (this is a Rolling Stones song)

Note:

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Ocean Grove. August 2025. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click once to enlarge

Peter, Paul and Mary:  They used to appear in the Great Auditorium thanks to Shelly Belusar.

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Heroes Park. Ocean Grove. 7/13/26. Paul Goldfinger photo. Blogfinger.net

From.   110 in the Shade.  “Is it Really Me?”

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7/24/22. 9:40 am. Religious service in the Pavilion. Paul Goldfinger photo. Click to clearly see what is going on.

This man, a church representative, is standing on the public thoroughfare. (the boardwalk). He is soliciting people walking by to take a program and come into the Pavilion church service. This moment is symbolic of what is going on lately in Ocean Grove.

PAUL GOLDFINGER, MD.   Editor Blogfinger.net.  2022

For newcomers to OG, they see only what they see…..they have no sense of how the OG culture is evolving.  The CMA has shifted into high gear lately as they try to create a “Christian Seaside Community,”   The balance between secular and religious life is undoubtedly shifting.

Here are two examples:

A happy Doo-Wop Saturday night crowd in the GA. c. 2017. Paul Goldfinger photo.

Out-of-towners enjoying a Doo Wops. concert.  Blogfinger photo.

Elimination of Saturday night shows in the Great Auditorium:    The summer Saturday night secular programs in the  GA. were a big hit for years. There were thousands who came to enjoy acts like Tony Bennett,  Neil Sedaka, ABBA, Frank Sinatra, Jr., the Beachboys, and others.

These shows promoted happiness for locals and visitors, but evidently they didn’t fit into the long term plans of the CMA despite the good will generated.

We are currently witnessing an explosion of religious programming in the Grove, whereas secular morale builders are being drowned out.   Saturday nights are now all about Christian entertainment, and that programming spills over to Sunday and envelopes the town  in a big way.

We inquired about the cancellation of the Saturday secular shows and we were told that it was too expensive to hire the big-time acts which people preferred.  But the CMA could have raised the price of tickets, as they have successfully done at the Count Basie in Red Bank.

Now we are witnessing why the CMA wanted Saturday night back.

Grovers are seemingly  not concerned with more balance of secular and religious.  They  just go into A. Park for amusement.

2002. Yoga on the OG beach. No problem then. PG photo.  Totally secular activity.  PG photo.

Yoga on the OG boards 2020. The class sets up at the rear–in no one’s way. Paul Goldfinger. photo. Click to enlarge.

Second:  As another example, we used to have yoga on the boards and on the beach, and there were no complaints.   One of the yoga teachers, a senior citizen from OG who has been popular here for 17 years,  worked with small groups and was careful not to block anyone’s access to the “public thoroughfare” on the boards is now experiencing pressure from the CMA to stop his yoga activities.

Now the CMA wants to teach “Christian Yoga” on the boards and wants to force the the regular guy out. Can you teach Christian yoga on a public thoroughfare?  What is happening to separation of church and state in OG public places?

So keep your eyes open for culture shifts in our town.  Especially watch the CMA as they implement their expanded religious programs and as they slowly replace or force out secular institutions,  thus allowing  the balance to shift in one direction.

THE DUBS:

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Photo by Constantine Manos.  Scanned original image. Special to Blogfinger.net.  From the artist at the Maine Photographic Workshop.  Click to enlarge.

Constantine Manos: Typical of his color photography. Internet photo. Click to enlarge.

By Paul Goldfinger, MD.    Editor Blogfinger.net. 2025 re-post. Blogfinger.net.

Constantine Manos, a Greek-American photographer,  (1934-2025)    had achieved wide fame for his striking color images..  He had been the official photographer of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and was widely published. In the States he lived in Boston and he often worked in Greece.  He also was a member of the famed photojournalism group Magnum.

I met him at the Maine Summer  Photographic Workshops when he was offering  a course called “This Magic Moment.”  He would send his students on photo assignments and then bring them back for discussions.    At the end of the course, he would put on a slide show of all his students’ work in front of others, such as myself,  there for other courses.  During the slide show he would play that song.

I liked his work because of his  brilliant and exciting use of color.

My reason for being there was to study black and white photography,  but they had classes in all sorts of aspects, and many famous photographers were in attendance.

After his show, he offered some prints for sale,  so I bought one and then hung it on the wall in my darkroom. It is the image on top.   I chose this one because it is so typical of Manos’ work.

Fast forward to now; I am beginning to revisit my color film  work in an effort to digitize old Kodachrome slides. So  turning on the lights in my home  darkroom which will become a digital lab I rediscovered the image on top above.

It looks like Mexico, but I am unsure.   Lately I am once again specializing in black and white, but if I were to shoot color once again, Manos’    high contrast, high color intensity style would suit me.

The idea of a “magic moment” is nothing new in photography.   Cartier-Bresson made “the decisive moment” famous.

Editor’s note:   1/3/25.  Constantine Manos dies.  He lived in Provincetown, Mass. and had a long career as a photojournalist, artist, and teacher.  Everyone called him, “Costa.”

THE DRIFTERS.

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Photograph  by Paul Goldfinger. Wesley Lake as seen from the Asbury side, revealing OG.  2024.

By Poet  Igor Timkovsky:

Peace by the lake…

Tranquility of the lake.

From vanity take a break.

Just look at it. Treat your eye.

Don’t ask yourself what and why.

Yo-Yo Ma and Friends.   “Kuai Le.”   Songs of Joy and Peace

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A passionate request…Paul Goldfinger photograph. OG North End.

THE VELOURS:

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Asian lillies bloom in Ocean Grove, late afternoon. Blogfinger photo. 7/26.

The Uri Caine Ensemble:

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Kelly Lynch, Master Distiller. Paul Goldfinger photo  4/11/24. Asbury Park, NJ, USA. Click once to enlarge.  Blogfinger.net. Ocean Grove NJ

By Paul Goldfinger, MD.  Blogfinger.net.  Ocean Grove, NJ, USA.  We are sister cities with A. Park,  despite what the Tri-City News says.

I was over in A. Park, across the Jersey Avenue bridge in Ocean Grove, to make sure the Bierhalle* was still intact after recent flooding 2024.

While I was there, I  noticed a young woman near some large doors pushing a heavy cart filled with wooden barrels.  I walked over and when I peeked inside the doors, I saw a fascinating place: the Asbury Park Distilling Co.  It looked like the home of a mad scientist.

She invited me in to take a photo (see above).   It turns out that she is no ordinary shlepper:  She is Kelly Lynch, Master Distiller.

The Asbury Park Distilling Co. is the first and only distillery in Asbury, since Prohibition.  They make high class beverages:  bourbon, gin, and vodka, as well as other products.

Tours are available.

Their icon is a mermaid.

*ADDENDUM:  The” Bierhalle,” a familiar landmark when coming across the Jersey Ave. bridge, and next door to the Asbury Distillery, has been closed for sometime.  It is expected that it will reopen, but there are issues having to do with structural concerns and subterranean integrity.  Work is currently being done and difficulty acquiring insurance due to recurrent flooding.  It is very popular in-season, especially up at the roof bar where they have had  live music.

Here is a Blogfinger Bierhalle link 2015:

Asbury BIERHALLE report from Blogfinger 2015

Bierhalle. Paul Goldfinger photo. 4/11/24. Click to enlarge.

2025 update:  The Bierhalle is now permanently closed.  The Asbury Distillery is open and has live music on Sundays.

2026 update a flood hits 7/6/26.  SEE VIDEO BELOW:

7/9/2026.  An Asbury source sent us this 7/6/26 video, undoubtedly by a drone.   The tell us that the flood of Wesley Lake receded quickly oh both sides.  On the Grovarian side, we were left with a swamp of plastic bottles and garbage dredged up from the bottom. No surprise to Grovers.  Our Asburian friends point to the Grove and wonder why lakeside home owners don’t do a better job policing our shores

Interestingly the Bierhalle property which was considered to be hopelessly vulnerable to flood damage has been bought by owners who plan a steak house at the site and who have placed a metal barrier to protect the lower structural areas from flood damage, and it did that during the major flooding two days ago.

BEE GEES

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Editorial:  Paul Goldfinger MD. Blogfinger.net.    Ocean Grove, NJ, USA

Firemen’s Park in Ocean Grove. July, 2020. Blogfinger photo. ©

A fence at Dachau. It means “Work makes you free.”

In Philadelphia, children can get closer to the Liberty Bell than those in Firemen’s Park can. Internet photo

We live in an age of being offended.  If someone is offended by anything in the public sphere, then authorities often have to fix it.  An example is taking down a statue of a Confederate hero because it might offend someone who doesn’t want to be reminded of slavery 150 years ago.

Or changing the name of a city such as New York, because York was an Englishman who had slaves.   And Stokes, who would not allow blacks, Jews and Catholics into town, could be viewed as being biased, and thus some might be offended by his statue on Ocean Pathway.

Sometimes responding to such a complaint seems justified, while others seem unreasonable and even harmful.

In OG’s Firemen’s Park is a symbol of liberty: It is a bell with an eagle on top. For some in the Grove it is a symbol of departed firemen. But whichever definition is embraced by Grovers,  neither meaning would likely offend anyone, and the bell would remain.

But the placement of the bell imprisoned  by an ominous black fence with sharp points facing upward and dangerous shrubs with needles protruding might remind some of being in captivity. It might even intimidate and frighten children.

The Nazis imprisoned innocent people  behind ominous black fences, and that included gypsies, Jews, gays, Adventists, mentally ill, Soviet POW’s and sick Poles. Those prisoners wound up being murdered.

So I find that fence to be offensive.  We should not celebrate public displays that might remind some of our friends and neighbors of such horrors.

Please Mr. Mayor—take it and those horrid bushes away, and open access to that liberty bell for all to enjoy and interpret in a positive way.  And surround it with flowers turning it into a welcoming happy  setting —an inoffensive symbol of liberty.

Paul Goldfinger, MD,  Editor@Blogfinger.net

BIRDY  “Not About Angels”  From a movie  The Fault in Our Stars

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