Funny, I left the house at 5 a.m. to drive up to Sandy Hook to shoot the lighthouse today before the sun came up. I wanted the the lighthouse to be lit, so it had to be an early visit.
“Then later today I looked at the Blogfinger header photo, and if I am not mistaken, that would be the houses on the bay at Fort Hancock at the tip of Sandy Hook.
“Hopefully, that is the last vestiges of snow for us this year in the foreground! Enjoy.”
—Bob
AMY WINEHOUSE: (“Our Day Will Come” was a hit in 1963 with Ruby and the Romantics. It is now part of the first Amy Winehouse posthumous album Lioness: Hidden Treasures.)
This song is a theme for Bob Bowné´s lovely interpretation of the Sandy Hook lighthouse. Congratulations Bob and thanks for sending us this gorgeous image.—-PG
There is an alarming article in today’s Coaster, unsigned by a reporter, and on page 19. It states that a portion of the public Seaside Heights beach, 1.37 valuable acres, is going to be sold to a private developer. According to the article, this was permitted by the State of New Jersey Dept. of Environmental Protection and by State House Commission.
The property is worth millions, but the price tag, the items that the town of Seaside Heights will get for the land include: a carousel which is being phased out, a parking lot along the boardwalk—half the size of the beach being sold, and 67 acres of undeveloped wetlands worth $4,100 per acre. This sounds outrageous.
It is amazing that this story hasn’t prompted a major investigation by the State and the County.
It is reminiscent of 1986 in Ocean Grove when the CMA wanted to sell land by Fletcher Lake, along the beach, to build a condo high rise. That proposal was beaten back by the people. We wrote about that story earlier this year.
In Ocean Grove we also have been sensitized by the shenanigans related to the possible re-development of our North End.
The Seaside Heights proposal is being challenged by a lawsuit brought by the American Littoral Society, Inc. and by the New Jersey Conservation Foundation. Where are the citizens of Seaside Heights and where is the Governor who saw to it that they received funding after Sandy to rebuild the beachfront?
What sort of backroom deal allowed this to happen?
The people of Ocean Grove should keep an eye on this story, and if you hear anything, please share with us. See the comment below which contains a link to more details.—-Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
Ocean Township contains a number of communities including Wanamassa, West Deal, and West Allenhurst. West Allenhurst is across the water from Allenhurst and Interlaken. (See the map below.) The water is an extension of Deal Lake. The geography is difficult to get straight:
These areas have wonderful old homes that take you back to around 1920-1930—very elegant and full of character—especially those on the water.
You could almost imagine F. Scott Fitzgerald walking those streets or wearing a straw hat and bow tie while paddling a row boat with a flapper on board. In “The Great Gatsby,” Fitzgerald said, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
Here is a Blogfinger link to an old house in Interlaken:
