These two were enjoying a visit to the park with Dad on July 4, when Malaina Kuczynski spotted the planter with the flag. She went up to it, conjured up this pose, and asked Dad to take a photo. He complied, and then one year old Addison joined the photo-shoot. for another take.
When we asked Malaina how old she was, she raised three fingers, but Dad showed her four, however technically Malaina was correct. Her birthday is on July 6.
The girls are visiting Gram’s house for the holiday weekend.
Sackman Enterprises created 98 rental units near the beach in A. Park. They own other properties in AP including a new condo project and the restored Steinbach building. They also own #60 Main Avenue in OG. (the brick pizza building with high rentals) Internet photo.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger. 2018.
Here is a link to a post we published last July regarding the relationship between OG and A. Park. It raises some important issues.
In Ocean Grove the pressure on “our” parking will continue to increase due to the Asbury parkers. And this is on top of other parking concerns such as the Camp Meeting Association’s plans to increase its year round programming, and the ambitious new activities at the Jersey Shore Arts Center which has new year-round events that have made life intermittently difficult over in that west end Grovarian neighborhood, and the JSAC has even more ambitious plans for the future.
And then there is the pressure (as with the Warrington site) to create multi-unit condominium or hotel units without offering off-street parking. Added to the mixed bag is the continued large-scale extravaganzas by the Chamber of Commerce which shuts down our streets and crams thousands of tourists for their big events. They, the Township, and the CMA have done nothing to help residents with the parking situation during these grid-lock megalomaniac events.
Real estate in Asbury Park continues to be hot as millennials* come into town to be close to the Asburian action. A side effect of that is the growing AP housing demand resulting in real estate spillover to Ocean Grove—–be close to the action while paying less for housing here. But then we will see rising price pressure in OG.
If you go to any fine restaurant in A. Park you will find well-healed young people enjoying expensive dinners. This trend will increase, and a large new high-rise building near the ocean will have condominiums, a hotel, stores and offices.
Some condos in AP have doubled (or more) in value in just a few years, and resales can bring up to $1 million. There are quite a few smaller condominium conversions as well as large units all over Asbury-town, especially at their north end. Of course they have parking problems that keep increasing. A recent condo project recently took over a parking lot near Wesley Lake. All of this development impacts Ocean Grove to some extent. Woe is us!.
And how about the street water runoff into Wesley Lake? Jack and I visited the Monroe work site a few months ago (below) and all we saw regarding the Lake’s ecology were a few ironic storm drains along the lake with a carving of a fish on them.
Where is the DEP? We hear that the DEP plans to get involved in shore lake management, but so far, no news on that front.
Storm sewer on the Asbury side of Wesley Lake. Blogfinger photo. Click to see the ironic fish.
This is the newly built Monroe which faces Wesley Lake on the AP side. Internet photo.
In addition, Bradley Beach has become hot with higher prices for homes that sold for a lot less not long ago. This is the Asbury Park effect to the south of OG. And you can buy alcoholic beverages in BB.
It’s interesting that back in the day, when AP had roaring honky tonk going on, people from BB, Avon and other southern destinations would walk through OG, heading north on the boards, admire the scenery and the peacefulness of our town, and then proceed as fast as they could to reach the promised land of Asburian hot-times before some Grover calls them sinners. Now the Asbury Park two-step is back again, and developers want to turn OG into AP South.com.
Some buyers are seeking houses in OG and BB as sources of income for Air B& B and more long range rentals. From the point of view of OG residents, this is not good news. This kind of activity can change Ocean Grove significantly.
*Millennials often are highly educated and have good jobs. Now they have saved some money and they are looking for housing around here. Some condos in AP have doubled their valuations (and along with it their property taxes.)
The Pew Research Center will use 1996 as the last birth year for Millennials. Anyone born between 1981 and 1996 (ages 22-37 in 2018) will be considered a Millennial, and anyone born from 1997 onward will be part of a new generation.
This is an explosive time for the staid Victorian town of Ocean Grove. Anyone who lives here, full time or part time or as a vacation destination should be aware.
LIANNE LA HAVAS from the movie Loving Vincent—-“Starry, Starry Night”
OG volunteers clean up after Sandy. No sign of Neptune DPW at the beachfront. They made believe that it wasn’t their job by saying that the land was owned by the CMA. But what about the needs of the people of Ocean Grove?
Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
The relationship between the Township of Neptune and the Town of Ocean Grove has always been unnatural. Ocean Grove is culturally, historically, demographically, and physically much different than the rest of the Township. It is a strange and strained partnership, but Neptuners make believe that it is a good fit.
The decision to attach the town of Ocean Grove to Neptune Township was a bizarre and archaic example of legislative patronage, but Neptune makes believe that the historic error continues to make sense and they have refused to allow Grovers to seek a path on their own. Even the wall in East Berlin eventually came down.
We pay property taxes to Neptune Township. They make believe that we are like the rest of the Township in terms of services paid for, but that’s not true.
We have few school-age children that use the schools compared to the rest of Neptune, but Neptune makes believe that we are the same.
Neptune charges property tax to us for our leased land. They make believe that we own our land. In reality the CMA claims to own the land and collects lease charges from us. The Township should bill the CMA for the land tax, or, some arrangement should be made to turn over the land ownership to the homeowners.
Neptune won’t fix our sidewalks because they make believe that the CMA owns the sidewalks. That may be technically true, but the rest of Neptune gets their sidewalks fixed, and the CMA won’t fix our sidewalks. The Township and the CMA make believe that it is our responsibility, but why is that? We don’t own the sidewalks. In what towns do property-tax paying citizens fix their own sidewalks?
Neptune makes believe that we own the trees along the streets, but we do not. OG trees are in deplorable condition and pose risks to those who live, drive and walk nearby. Does the Township allow trees along the streets in other parts of town to become unhealthy, ugly, and dangerous messes? Neptune makes believe that the citizens should pay for tree maintenance.
Neptune is responsible for some parks in OG, but they make believe that somebody else should maintain them. For example, Firemen’s Park is a disgrace. They sure do a nice job with the park by the Shark River.
Neptune makes believe that Ocean Grove has representative government, but the Township Committee clearly has Neptune proper as its priority. Neptune makes believe that they are not exploiting our town for money (ie the so called “cash cow” syndrome) but they are constantly looking for ways to find ratables in the Grove even if their decisions adversely impact our historic preservation and our quality of life.
Neptune makes believe that it supports the Grove’s special designation as a National and State historic site, but they consistently look for ways to defy the Master Plan and zoning ordinances that are supposed to look after the “historic district.” An example is the way that they defy RSIS rules. Now they are working on a way to water down the HPC guidelines. They make believe that it is about fire safety.
Now they want to turn our North End into a big commercial zone that will hurt the Town of Ocean Grove. They make believe that the project is good for the Grove.
Neptune makes believe that its first responsibility in OG is to the tax paying citizens who live there, but in reality, they act like we are invisible. Just visit a Committee meeting to see how our neighbors are treated. Instead, Neptune’s actual priorities are first the CMA, second developers and merchants, and third the Home Groaners Ass.
Neptune went all out to clean up and rebuild the Shark River area after Sandy, but they made believe that cleaning and fixing the ocean front was somebody else’s job. So an army of volunteers had to do it, and the CMA had to struggle to raise huge funds and to deal with FEMA. Neptune reluctantly participated later by supplying some bonds until FEMA came through. The Township used tax money after Sandy to fix other parts of town while denying us services and they make believe that this discrepancy doesn’t exist.
And now, as $800,000 has rolled in from FEMA for phase 3 post Sandy, the Township wants to build an unwanted bulkhead at Shark River instead of using the money to finally re-do the OG Boardwalk north of the Pavilion. They are favoring the marina area while making believe that the remaining OG Boardwalk repairs are unimportant.
So, we have the Land of Make Believe in Neptune, and we the people make believe that there is nothing we can do.
HARRY NILSSON from the Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II music for Showboat. The song is “Make Believe.”
“Others find peace of mind in pretending,
Couldn’t you? Couldn’t I? Couldn’t we?”
In a Coaster article (Jan. 25, 2017) it was reported that the Township Committee approved “almost 100 new parking spaces”and that the Committee was “acting on recommendations presented by the ad hoc OG Parking Task Force.” That task force has members on it from the OGHOA.
The plan includes creating diagonal head-on parking on the north side of Main Ave. from New Jersey Ave. to Lawrence Ave. The same is planned on the west side of Central Avenue from Heck to Webb avenues.
But diagonal parking is ugly. The “new spaces” are created by cramming more cars into a given space where currently there is parallel parking. Diagonal parking may be OK for commercial areas, but in residential areas it is not suitable.
On Main Avenue, starting from the eastern edge of Firemen’s Park and heading west, the diagonal parking will look congested and will visually and actually narrow Main Avenue. Currently that portion of the Avenue has an impressive and welcoming boulevard look.
For visitors who come into our historic town, they will not enjoy the same openness that currently shows off the Grove at its best with historic homes and a lovely park. In addition the town will lose one of the few places where a bus or truck can legally pull over and give some respite for the drivers to get their bearings or have a coffee.
As for how our leaders feel about this idea, here are two quotes borrowed from the Coaster:
Deputy Mayor Nick Williams, a member of the Township’s parking task force said, “We are going to move forward with these recommendations, and I think the task force did a good job.”
Resident Joyce Klein who is a member of the OGHOA and chairman of their parking committee said, “This is a great start* but I hope to think that this is the beginning and not the end of the parking study.” She is also on the task force.
So we will get some more spaces, but we don’t need more congestion and density as the price to pay in our residential areas while the town continues its slide downhill. The policy makers think that this will be wonderful, but do you think these task force people are doing the right thing?
It seems that they believe that all Grovers care about is parking and that we will accept any new spaces no matter the price. Do you think the task force gave any consideration to the appearance of our town—–how about the more important variables such as air, space and light? How about our quality of life?
This plan of squeezing more cars onto our streets fits in with the worrisome current pattern of more condos, more density, and more crowding. Making more spaces is not necessarily better than leaving those streets alone.
Who is this really helping?–the commercial and real estate interests, or the people who live here? Help the residents with parking stickers and do something to reduce the numbers of cars coming into town and the number of town-clogging events that are too often and create temporary paralysis for OG tax payers. Or build a parking garage somewhere.
This plan will be implemented by Memorial Day. Other ideas are also being considered, including even more diagonal parking on other parts of Central Avenue.
When it comes to policies that hurt our historic town, if no one complains, they will soon do it again:
My wife and I along with another couple spent the day in Ocean Grove, NJ. We are from Phillipsburg, NJ and had never been in OG. During the course of the day we sat on a bench facing the ocean as many others do while at the shore.
We were facing lifeguard stand #4, when the clock struck 5 pm. We watched the routine that takes place at the end of a long day in the sun; making sure everyone is safe. My friend and I are both veterans—he Army, me Navy. We are both active in our community with patriotism and Americanism.
We were curious to watch what would be done with the American flag at the end of the shift. We sat in amazement as we watched the lifeguards not only handle the flag properly and respectfully, but we watched them fold the flag in the proper manner.
Very, very impressive! We were so pleased to watch this perfectly executed folding of the flag, we decided to high tail it to the area where the lifeguards from stand #4 store their equipment. We introduced ourselves as veterans and expressed our appreciation and gratitude for the way they conduct themselves on the beach, and for their handling and storing of the American flag. We were informed that all lifeguards perform the same duty and ceremony at their respective stations.
Please know, all veterans, their families, those presently serving and our homeless veterans would be proud of the lifeguards in Ocean Grove.
A true sign of Patriotism and Americanism.
Bill Nixon, US Navy Veteran
Barry Willever, US Army Veteran
Editor’s Note: Thanks to Bill Nixon and Barry Willever for their service and for their praise of Ocean Grove’s excellent life guards.
OG is traditionally a patriotic place going back to Pres. Teddy Roosevelt and before that to Pres. Grant who spoke to a large group of Civil War veterans in the Auditorium.
Today many Grovers fly American flags with pride, and our glorious July 4 parade, sponsored by the OG Camp Meeting Association, offers a major tribute to our country. —–Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
The doors open at 10 am sharp, and the Auxiliary sticks to the rules, so these sun-shy bookish babes must wait for 10 minutes.
There was a rain last night, causing some concerns inside the book sale, but some tarps saved the day. The sign says “Please no dogs” but its unfortunate location, right next to the place where OG’s famous Pennsylvania hot dogs are sold, will not keep Fred and the gang from supplying that fantasy food.
They get their dogs from a supplier who has been making these delicious dogs for over 100 years. The refreshment crew buys about 3,000 at a time. This weekend they must feed the bookers, the big girls don’t cry crowd, and the thousands of visitors for the Sunday Choir Festival where the air will be thick with Handel and garlic.
THE KINGS OF DIXIELAND: “In the Good Old Summertime.”
Slide show can be viewed by clicking on any image and then following the arrows.
UNITED STATES MARINE BAND with John Phillip Sousa’s “Stars and Stripes Forever”—America’s March by an act of Congress. Turn on music before viewing photos:
If you bought a treasure at Saturday’s event, how about sharing your story (and photo if possible) with the readers of Blogfinger. Just email it to Blogfinger@verizon.net.
Megan’s electric martini. Photo by Megan McCluskey. May 30, 2015, in Ocean Grove.
This is the first one, from Megan McCluskey. She says, “I snagged this for $15. My son recently started watching Mad Men and it seemed appropriate.”
Megan: Are you feeling nostalgic for the Mad Men days when workers would drink on the job? Don Draper and his buddies (and one woman) could hold their booze very well while creating advertisements for big corporations.
From Sarah Cox: My fiance and I bought my wedding band at the flea market on Saturday from Rosemary of Trinkets and Treasures. Rosemary estimated it is from the 1940s. It’s 14K gold with seven small diamonds, and it fits perfectly in size and style with my engagement ring, which is a family heirloom. David and I are getting married in Ocean Grove on Saturday, September 19 on the patio at Days.
Sarah: Wouldn’t it be better if you got married on a sundae?
