Tanger Shopping Center. Fort Myers, Florida. PG photo. This post is from 2012.
By Paul Goldfinger. 2012
Last year, we at Blogfinger were accused of “stirring the pot” by a township official who didn’t like our parking meter discussion. Well, at the risk of stirring another pot, here’s a story that won’t go away and is too important to ignore. Where will visitors to the Grove go when they have to go, especially in the off season when the Camp Meeting Association does not offer preferred seating near the Great Auditorium?
In this photo, you can see how one shopping community in Fort Myers, Florida handles an inconvenient truth: they simply offer restrooms in every store. But, in Ocean Grove, no solution has been offered by the Chamber of Commerce, which ought to be at the forefront of solving this problem. Surely the people who bring us live music on the corner, cars from another era, chocolate in the winter and street festivals in the fall could come up with a solution for crazed children running around Main Avenue yelling, “I gotta go potty, I gotta go potty.”
Do we want our guests to grab a cab to the next town when they gotta go? Will stirring the pot on this issue encourage the Chamber to take action?
From Nancy and Jean on Cookman Avenue. Sent to us today. (2012) by email. It is an excellent bird portrait.
“Hi – sending you a picture of a Cooper Hawk that the wind blew into our backyard on Cookman Ave, in OG.”
Cooper’s Hawk by Nancy and Jean on Cookman Ave. Ocean Grove, NJ 2012.
Mt. Hermon Way. iPhone13 pro with tele lens. Paul Goldfinger photo. 12/3/22. By Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net. Ocean Grove.
We feed the birds in our back yard , and there is a giant tree next door. And we have a pond with goldfish swimming around. So our fish and little birds. (finches, sparrows, wrens, doves, wood peckers, and cardinals) attract a black and white cat with a pink collar (anyone know its name?) and a predator called a Cooper hawk.
These hawks are found from southern Canada down to Mexico. They stop in Boca Raton searching for the elusive gefilte fish and the wild caught pickled herring.
One time we were standing in our backyard when there seemed to be snow falling. But it turned out to be the hawk up in tree enjoying lunch while spitting out the white feathers.
If we look out in our backyard and see no birds, we instinctively look up in the tree for the hawk. And we look near the pond where the cat likes to sit and watch the action.
Yesterday the hawk was relaxing on our backyard fence. I got a few frames with my iPhone, and then the hawk flew off.
JESSICA MOLASKEY. The clarinet solo is by Ken Peplowski who often records with Jessica and the Pizzarellis — family purveyors of the Great American songbook.
We have received word from Robert M. Harveson, Ph.D., Professor at the University of Nebraska, that he will publish our photograph of how tomatoes are grown in Florida. Professor Harveson is completing a book for the American Phytopathogical Society Press that deals with historical aspects of plant pathology. Our photo will be used to compare various ways that tomatoes are grown compared to other tomato-growing regions. He asked for our permission, and of course we said yes.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger Reposted from January, 2014.
Frosty the Snowman is one of the heroes of the holidays. Yet you don’t see too many of them around OG. So today, two days after our snowstorm, Bruce and Eddie Holmes of Mt. Hermon Way decided to fix that situation. Eddie said that he was creating a snowman, but it’s only a matter of time before the snow feminists complain.
Eddie’s “Frosty” already had a carrot nose, but he needed to do something with their extra carrot. Bruce wanted to use it to make eyes, but charcoal is more traditional. I suggested another anatomic part for the snowperson, but Eddie solved the issue by burying the extra carrot in the snow . He wasn’t bothered by the gender ambiguity evident in his new friend.
So, for now, we have a snowman and that probably won’t bother anybody. Besides, it doesn’t matter, because it’s Eddie’s friend, so Eddie decides.
THE JACKSON FIVE (Blogfinger swore off Christmas music for awhile, but it is essential now to post Frosty the Snowman. You will like the Jackson Five with this song)
This is where the project will end—at Founders’ Park. Desilting is a separate project from the wall restoration seen above. Blogfinger photo March, 2014.
March 19, 2014, Ocean Grove: A chilly groundbreaking ceremony was held today next to the broken-down cement retaining wall adjacent to Founders’ Park. Officials from the Wesley Lake Commission, Asbury Park, and Neptune Township came together to officially announce that the $1.5 million project to rebuild portions of the wall in Ocean Grove and to desilt the Lake are now in full swing. The event was chaired by Neptune Mayor Michael Brantley who has a long interest in trying to improve the situation at Wesley Lake. After years of frustration, he seemed almost giddy today as he organized a photo-op of officials with ceremonial shovels trying to spell “Neptune.”
Wesley Lake is one of a number of coastal lakes in this vicinity, including Fletcher Lake, which have been deteriorating over time due to a multitude of ecologic issues including storm water running off the streets containing chemicals and bacteria and then streaming into the lakes. Contamination causing degradation of natural conditions endangers the health of fish and causes promotion of weeds as well as silt buildup on the bottom. Oxygenation of the water becomes impaired and there is the accumulation of garbage on the bottom or just floating by.
The Wesley Lake Commission is composed of representatives of both towns (there is a similar cooperative group at Fletcher Lake,) but in the case of Wesley Lake, the Commission has been wrestling with these current issues for at least the last ten years, with efforts being frustrated by lack of adequate funding to reverse some of the problems.
I attended a meeting several years ago of the Friends of Wesley Lake, a now defunct group of concerned citizens that tried to motivate residents to make the Lake better, but the best that they could come up with was to sponsor a cleanup day–to pick up garbage in and around the Lake.
We heard some activists from Ocean Grove and Asbury Park speak at that meeting who expressed their frustration over a problem that seemingly was insurmountable due to financial issues and which included a worrisome situation involving oil and gasoline contamination of the soil on the Asbury side.
A few years ago, the Commission determined that it would cost about $12 million to fix Wesley Lake and its related problems such as the streetscape along the lake, the OG wall, the condition of the fish, and storm water management. Neptune Township recently commissioned a survey of the depth of sediment buildup in the entire lake. They found that silt accumulation was minimal on the Asbury side due to dredging that was evidently done when AP built their metal retaining wall about 5 years ago. But on the Ocean Grove side, the silt buildup had to become part of the current project. Desilting will also be done at Fletcher Lake to complete the dredging goals.
Then came Sandy, and that superstorm caused further deterioration in the Lake and in the crumbling cement retaining wall on the Ocean Grove side which has been declining for years.
At today’s event, the Mayor told us that $1.5 million had been raised (beginning in 2013) in the form of grants, mostly from a Federal agency, the National Resource Conservation Service (Dept. of Agriculture). Other sources brought the funds to well over $2 million. So now we are seeing reconstruction of 400 linear feet of wall which will extend from the boardwalk end to the Founders’ Park end. The remaining cement wall to the west will have to wait for more funds at another time.
The current project, being done by Precise Construction, will rebuild the wall by using temporary steel sheet pilings, front and rear, to hold back the dirt and the water, while the permanent structure is restored using reenforced concrete which, according to Neptune Engineering Chief Leanne Hoffmann, should last at least 50 years. A separate project will be done now to desilt along the Ocean Grove wall out to 30 feet. Desilting is another way to say “dredging. ” The new terminology is preferred by the DEP. 45,000 cubic yards will be removed and dumped somewhere. The project should be done by Memorial Day.
Among the speakers today were Vito Gadaleta, the Township Business Administrator and Peter Avakian, the Commission Engineer. Also present was Neptune Committeeman Randy Bishop of Ocean Grove. The mood was happy because these officials and the citizens of Ocean Grove and Asbury Park have waited so long to see meaningful progress.
The meeting concluded with participants heading over to the west end of the Lake to check out a big thermometer which will track future financing towards the $12 million needed for future continued progress which, by the way, will include restocking with fish.
When this project is over, church bells may ring in the Grove (you know what’s coming)
THE FIREBIRDS (no, not the Willows or the Diamonds)
BRIAN STOKES MITCHELL. From his album Simply Broadway. “The Impossible Dream” is from Don Quixote. The song is dedicated to the surfers who go out alone to challenge the ocean and dream of the impossible wave.
Orange marks have been placed around Block (1) and a section of the Lake Avenue walkway by a land surveyor who is preparing a survey map that will be used by an architect and engineer in creating site plans that must be submitted for approval to all agencies having jurisdiction over the proposed plan. After those approvals, construction plans can be prepared. These maps will demarcate the outlines of the property which will comprise the bulk of the North End plan. They also will provide documentation regarding the sale of the property.
We know that WAVE, the mysterious LLC that will soon become the sole re-developer of the NERP, has contracted to purchase most of the North End property from the Camp Meeting Association. That purchase is tantamount to owning the land, although it is officially promoted as a 99 year lease in perpetuity.
The Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association stands to receive a large sum of money for selling that valuable property to WAVE. As we have reported, the identities of the individuals behind WAVE have not been released. Meanwhile, the CMA has requested that the Township officially remove them as co-developer. That will require a resolution by the Township.
For some observers it seems like a poor decision for the CMA to give up such valuable property because there is so much money to be made in the future from all sorts of possible uses including parking for the Township. But perhaps the CMA is somehow still involved with WAVE and thus stands to gain in that way. We already know that if the hotel is turned into condos, the CMA will receive a 10% fee for each one sold.
Blogfinger will continue to educate the Ocean Grove public as to the truth of what’s happening with the NERP. We are sticking to this because, according to the Duck Principle, “If it quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.”
We plan to report on a variety of issues related to the NERP. Some of them will be surprises. There’s quite a lot to keep us busy.
Among those matters, we want to revisit the outrageous 2007 Planning Board vote which recommended that the Township approve the special designation (“area in need of redevelopment”) which resulted in the zoning being changed despite what was in the best interest of the Grove. That was the key event in this whole story.
Wee will soon report on something else that relates to that Planning Board vote in 2007.
You can forget about the Coaster for information. They merely are stenographers who copy down whatever the HOA and the Committee tell them. And as for the OGHOA, they have no idea about the the real truths beneath the surface, and they don’t want to know. Their last statement was replete with errors.
We will try to find the truths and to assemble the pieces of the puzzle.
**The location of the hotel building is the worst possible choice. The hotel (or probably condos) will be the tallest building (5 stories) in the zone and will block the most views of the Ocean. The tallest building should be placed in the back of the zone, not in front. This decision is arrogant and gives a clue as to the attitude of the developers towards the town of Ocean Grove. The idea that they have reduced the density has been celebrated by the out-to-lunch OGHOA who should be standing on their heads in opposition to this “travesty.”
Credit: Ocean Grover Jack Bredin has been doing important research for Blogfinger as we pursue this story.
“Hey, it’s CSI,” said the guy in the street taking pictures. The DPW truck had rolled up a short time before. The corner of Delaware and Mt. Hermon Way was the scene of the crime. There had been a drive-by garbage drop. A black plastic bag had splattered on the delicate asphalt of one of OG’s historic intersections, and SPLAT, refuse was spread around into a circular crime scene.
The two special agents from Neptune DPW circled the mess and pondered what to do. Meredith Rosenberg, a neighbor, was observing from a safe distance on the sidewalk as she suggested that they photograph the garbage.
Why, you ask? Well Meredith must watch those CSI shows. She noticed that there was mail in the muck.
“Take a picture of it,” she said. “You can trace the crime back to the criminal.”
When I arrived on the scene, the DPI special agent was bent over taking some macro photos of the mail (Apple calls it macro-mail or the i-Crime solver app.)
The DPI truck rolled away with the evidence, no doubt to get to the lab. After all, without DNA, you can’t get a conviction any more. Jurors watch TV.
We recently posted a photography article about rooftops, featuring a print by a professional New York photographer. So we offered a prize if someone would send us a photograph of Ocean Grove rooftops. But no one participated. So that left an entry by Blogfinger photographer Jean Bredin (lovely photo Jean) and one by me. We can’t win a prize, but here are our entries:
