Articles by Chris Rotolo
Little Silver Celebrates A Century Of Community Spirit
By Chris Rotolo LITTLE SILVER – A torrential downpour couldn’t douse the community pride demonstrated during the borough’s June 24 centennial celebration. Following a short delay, the proceedings were underway, as residents lined a parade route that began at the intersection of Parker Avenue and Willow Drive, extended through the municipality’s primary business corridor on Prospect Avenue, and concluded at the community green behind borough hall.
New County Program Hopes to Reduce Recidivism
By Chris Rotolo FREEHOLD – A new initiative to support the social rehabilitation of recently incarcerated individuals will be implemented this summer in Monmouth County. During its May 25 regular public meeting, the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners formally approved an agreement between the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office and the Monmouth County Division of Workforce Development to establish an occupational reentry program at the county correctional institution in Freehold.
Fulfill Benefit Will Honor Local Rockers For Their Support
By Chris Rotolo RED BANK – When the COVID-19 health crisis forced music clubs around the world to shutter their doors, cutting the cord on the touring industry, Jersey Shore rocker Jeff Kazee was left with plenty of time to examine his local environment. What he witnessed was community members struggling to an unprecedented extent; social programs stretched to their limits; and food pantries overrun with those searching to satisfy the most basic need.
Jim Truncer, Visionary And Planner, Leaves Legacy Of County Parks
By Chris Rotolo It’s high tide in the Bayshore during an unseasonably warm winter’s day. At the midpoint of a gravel section of the Henry Hudson Trail that connects Atlantic Highlands to Popamora Point in the neighboring borough of Highlands, waves roll into a coastal rock wall. The collision sprays salty mist into the air, which catches sun beams, resembling sparks off a flint.
Guster Brings Tunes - and Memories - to Two River Area
By Chris Rotolo The adage goes that you can tell the measure of an individual by the company they keep. The same can be said for the genre-bending rock outfit Guster, which will descend upon White Eagle Hall in Jersey City April 6 as part of a 16-date national tour. On an afternoon in February, Guster drummer Brian Rosenworcel discussed the upcoming spring trek from a Walmart in Upstate New York.
Public Views Plans for Atlantic Highlands Property
By Chris Rotolo ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – Six decades ago the legendary folk musician Pete Seeger landed a hit single when he released a live recording of a tune titled “Little Boxes,” a satirical commentary mocking America’s fascination with suburban tract housing.
From Italy To New Jersey: A Poet’s Journey
By Chris Rotolo What is the nature of an artist? Are they meant to cast a beacon in a world with so much darkness; or to traverse a lonesome path while bearing their soul to the masses? Do they paint with soothing brush strokes to infuse beauty into scenes of anguish and heartache?
Shore Research In Keyport Could Help Many Two River Communities
By Chris Rotolo KEYPORT – A new team of Kean University researchers believes measurements of sand movements, wave energy and the shoreline itself in the Borough of Keyport can provide crucial data to combat the effects of climate change on the greater Bayshore community.
Regionalization Petition Will Include Sea Bright, But With Two Allocation Formulas
By Chris Rotolo ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – After unanimously adopting a resolution during its Feb. 9 meeting, the governing body is poised to develop the missing piece of a school regionalization petition that requires a mutually beneficial formula to divide and allocate annual tax savings.
Fall In Love This Valentine’s Day… With Chocolate
By Chris Rotolo From a young age, children are often taught to associate the consumption of chocolatey treats with rotting teeth, the grind of mechanized dental instruments and painful cavity-filling experiences. But demonizing chocolate isn’t the answer, said Rachel Tansey of the Rutgers University Cooperative Extension of Monmouth County. Instead, teaching young ones about moderation is crucial to squashing the folklore surrounding the sweet, and bringing its health benefits to light.
Parents Can Help Student Athletes Cope
By Chris Rotolo MIDDLETOWN – What do athletes and inmates have in common? It’s a question Mitch Abrams, Psy.D., has considered regularly as the chief psychologist of Rutgers University’s Correctional Healthcare unit – which oversees mental health services for seven state prisons in New Jersey – who has more than 25-years of experience as a certified sport psychologist. “How are these groups similar?” Abrams asked during a Jan.
Tri-District Boards Vote to Regionalize Without Sea Bright Students
By Chris Rotolo HIGHLANDS – A unanimous decision by the governing boards of the Henry Hudson Tri-District has set a course toward regionalization, but for now, the plan will not include students from the nearby borough of Sea Bright. During a special Jan.
A Punk Rocker Searches to Preserve the Genre’s Artifacts
By Chris Rotolo ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – How do we arrive at a particular point in time? The breakneck pace of our day-to-day lives often fails to leave us enough precious seconds to consider the path we have traversed, all the turning points along the way, and where we want to end up. But it’s a question AncientArtifax founder Brian Gorsegner regularly examines. Gorsegner is a punk-rock music historian and archeologist who collects and preserves items related to the genre.
Belford Ferry Terminal To Get Millions In Repairs, Upgrades
By Chris Rotolo MIDDLETOWN – A windfall of federal grant funding will allow Monmouth County to make substantial critical infrastructure upgrades to the Belford Ferry Terminal. With a $4 million award from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Passenger Ferry Grant Program, the county can fund repairs to a multitude of foundational elements, like the in-water floating docks, barges and gangways used to board and unload passengers.
Community and Environmentalists Question Source of Whale Deaths
By Chris Rotolo The body of an infant whale that washed up on the Keansburg beachfront in December was part of an unprecedented cluster of whale deaths along the New York and New Jersey shores over the last 40 days. That 12-foot sperm whale was one of seven endangered whales to wash ashore over the last six weeks and could be connected to an eighth incident, after visitors to Assateague State Park in Maryland discovered the body of a 20-foot humpback whale Monday, Jan. 16.
Colasurdo and Cusack Take the Reins in Atlantic Highlands
By Chris Rotolo ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – Vito Colasurdo suppressed his personal pain behind a triumphant smile during the borough’s Jan. 1 reorganization meeting, when he and councilwoman Eileen Cusack were sworn into office by U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. In November’s general election, Colasurdo and fellow Democrat Cusack, shared a ticket that edged out a pair of Republican incumbents, Stephen Boracchia and Brian Boms.
River Plaza School Celebrates 100 Years
By Chris Rotolo MIDDLETOWN – Hubbard Avenue was nothing more than a dirt path when River Plaza Elementary School was erected along the banks of the nearby Navesink River. A century ago, the doors to the schoolhouse opened for the first time, allowing the community to lay eyes on a then state-of-the-art facility that featured two classrooms and a recreation room located in its basement.
CBA Unveils Statue of Founder
By Chris Rotolo LINCROFT – Just weeks after capturing its 25th Meet of Champions title, yet again earning the designation as New Jersey’s top scholastic running club, members, alumni and friends of the Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) cross country program gathered on the great lawn of the sprawling Lincroft campus to honor a legend.
Seastreak Sails Into NY Waterway’s Belford Berth
By Chris Rotolo MIDDLETOWN – The two-decade stay of NY Waterway ferry service in Belford has come to a close. An announcement by the Monmouth County Board of County Commissioners marked the award of Middletown’s ferry service to Seastreak, which will begin transporting passengers to the east and west sides of Manhattan Monday, Dec. 5.
A First Thanksgiving Remembered - and Tips for Making it Better
By Chris Rotolo Nearly a full calendar year ago, a passing of the torch – or wishbone – unfolded when, for the first time, my wife and I welcomed family and friends into our humble Port Monmouth abode to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. A crackling fireplace heated the heart of our home, just as the company warmed our own.
After Historic Discovery, Fair Haven Pivots to Protect Pollinators
By Chris Rotolo FAIR HAVEN – Has the installation of a new pollinator garden in the Fair Haven Fields Natural Area uncovered the former site of a historic agricultural nursery?
Atlantic Highlands Residents Question Development Plan
By Chris Rotolo ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – Where is the affordable senior housing and active community green space? That was the question posed by concerned residents in attendance during the Nov. 10 meeting of the Atlantic Highlands Borough Council, which unanimously adopted an ordinance – minus the recused Mayor Loretta Gluckstein – that introduced a development plan for a 3.6-acre parcel connected to the vacant Mother Teresa Regional School and St. Agnes Thrift Shop.
Plans Form to Mitigate Flooding
By Chris Rotolo HIGHLANDS – The transformation of a local ball field into a massive stormwater retention center is a linchpin element in the borough’s proposal to mitigate nuisance flooding on residential roadways. During an Oct.
Little Silver Launches Marine Rescue Unit as Sandy Anniversary Looms
By Chris Rotolo LITTLE SILVER – A decade later and Mayor Robert Neff can still smell the wet wood of the downed shade trees strewn about town. Simply peering out at a particular portion of sidewalk can flip a switch on the reel-to-reel projector in his mind, replaying scenes of borough residents trudging out of their homes to dispose of belongings lost to floodwaters from the nearby Shrewsbury River.
Little Silver Residents Move to Protect Wetlands
By Chris Rotolo LITTLE SILVER – A herd of deer moves vigilantly along the tree line as one brave animal moseys away from the heavily forested plot of land and across the front lawn of a borough residence. In a community as densely developed as Little Silver, this property is one of the few remaining safe havens for wildlife to thrive.
Henry Hudson Trail Improvements Still on Track
By Chris Rotolo MONMOUTH COUNTY – During the height of the COVID-19 health crisis, the Henry Hudson Trail was a sanctuary port in an unprecedented storm for bikers and hikers in search of some normalcy. While businesses deemed nonessential remained closed, and public and private recreational programming options were suspended, Port Monmouth resident Shannon Henderson said she and her family made regular visits to Monmouth County’s longest and most heavily utilized multiuse regional trail.
Sea Bright Residents Will Hear More on Regionalization at Upcoming Special Meeting
By Chris Rotolo SEA BRIGHT – Though tax relief may be a welcomed byproduct of school regionalization, for borough parents and Mayor Brian Kelly, transitioning students to a new school district is a source of anxiety he and the borough council will address during a special Oct. 3 meeting of the governing body.
Paul Hansen Opens “The Doors” at Guild of Creative Art
By Chris Rotolo SHREWSBURY – “Is everybody in? The ceremony is about to begin.” This murky couplet, plucked from the prose of Jim Morrison’s 1970 performance piece titled “Celebration of the Lizard King,” serves as a properly provocative introduction to Paul Hansen’s solo exhibition “The Doors” at Guild of Creative Art in Shrewsbury. A recent interview with The Two River Times allowed Hansen to reflect about his personal portrayal of the band and how the image developed over time.
Mechanic Street Developer Faces Resident, Borough Questions
By Chris Rotolo RED BANK – Would 50 new apartments in a five-story building on Globe Court serve as a detriment to the character of adjacent historic structures and districts? That was the question debated at a Sept. 1 zoning board meeting during a hearing for One Globe Court, a 104,000-square-foot development proposed by Mazin A. “Patrick” Kalian of the Atlantic Highlands corporation Kalian Companies.
Recalling the Legacy of Late Dodgers Announcer Vin Scully
By Chris Rotolo ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – Earlier this month, as the dog days of summer ratcheted up the heat index toward triple digits, Atlantic Highlands resident Leonard Coleman was transported back to his childhood home in Montclair. Coleman – the former Major League Baseball Commissioner of the National League from 1994 through 1999 – recalled weathering those sweltering heatwaves by dialing up Dodgers games on the television in his two-family home.
Rumson Native Slides from Skiing to Field Hockey and Into Princeton
By Chris Rotolo RUMSON – Those on the outside looking in have accused borough native Grace Anne McCooey of being unequivocally loony, but she has been proving them wrong for a while. McCooey, a 2022 graduate of Rumson-Fair Haven High School, is known nationally as a field hockey standout. On the scholastic circuit, McCooey was a four-year varsity letter winner, lifting the Bulldogs to three NJSIAA sectional state championships.
Fair Haven Says ‘Not So Fast’ to Fast Food
By Chris Rotolo FAIR HAVEN – What is the definition of a fast food restaurant? Reporting on behalf of the Fair Haven Restaurant Committee during an Aug. 15 meeting of the governing body, zoning board attorney Michael A. Irene aimed to set the record straight by recommending an overhaul of existing regulatory language that will slow the roll, bun or taco shell of any fast food establishment seeking sanctuary within the municipality.
Event Offers Surf and ‘See’ for the Visually Impaired
By Chris Rotolo LONG BRANCH – “Burn it.” For the better part of the last four decades, this meditative mantra, uttered no louder than a whisper, has allowed Monmouth County native Michael Benson to shutter his limited vision, activate his senses and preserve vivid memories of sites only partially seen. Benson was born in 1961 with glaucoma, an incurable, degenerative eye disease that attacks the optic nerve and worsens a person’s ability to see, sometimes to the point of total blindness.
Baykeeper Gets Grant to Continue Living Shoreline Program
By Chris Rotolo MIDDLETOWN – Tucked behind the protected walls and policed piers of Naval Weapons Station Earle, a guardian of the local waterways is working to safeguard and fortify the Bayshore’s coastal communities through natural ecological restoration.
Highlands Says ‘Yes,’ Atlantic Highlands ‘Maybe’ to Marijuana
By Chris Rotolo ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – As lines snake around the building outside a new dispensary on Route 35 near Fort Monmouth, a pair of neighboring Bayshore boroughs are deciding the immediate future of the cannabis business within their borders. During a July 13 council meeting in Highlands, the governing body adopted an ordinance in support of Bridge City Collective LLC to establish an adult-use cannabis dispensary within permitted central business district zones.
Restrictions on Craft Breweries Leave Owners Tapped Out
By Chris Rotolo ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS – A piece of legislation introduced in 2018 by New Jersey’s Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control left craft brewing operators across the state feeling flat when sweeping constraints on their public interactions were instituted July 1. The Garden State’s approximately 141 craft breweries – seven of which are located in the Two River area – received a stay of execution from the mandate during the height of the COVID-19 health crisis.
Applicant Stresses Site’s Potential Alternative Uses if Holmdel Dementia Center Isn’t Approved
By Chris Rotolo HOLMDEL – The zoning board is inching closer to its vote on a proposed dementia center located at what is commonly known as the Potter’s Farm property on Red Hill Road, but not before applicant testimony illustrated what the parcel’s future could hold should the current pitch be denied.
School Regionalization Study Shows Benefits for Highlands, Atlantic Highlands and Sea Bright
By Chris Rotolo SEA BRIGHT – A feasibility study commissioned by the Henry Hudson Regional Tri-District has determined that if the neighboring boroughs of Atlantic Highlands and Highlands were to consider the formation of a full-service, regionalized, pre-K-12 school system, the inclusion of Sea Bright students would create the most financially beneficial scenario.
Special Forces Cheer Team Takes Disney - and Life - By Storm
By Chris Rotolo When reminiscing about their time spent between the white lines, working the court, or performing on the mat, athletes and coaches will often discuss the impact of sports extending beyond the act of competition. There are life lessons to be learned; social, emotional and mental attributes that are strengthened; and bonds built that can last a lifetime.
New Group to Oversee Major Riverfront Development in Sea Bright
By Chris Rotolo SEA BRIGHT – A redevelopment project proposed in 2018 for three riverfront parcels situated in the heart of the borough’s downtown district has changed hands.
Offshore Wind Project Picks Up Steam, Some Voice Concern
By Chris Rotolo An April agreement between the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and Orsted Offshore North America has cleared a path for Ocean Wind 1, the Garden State’s inaugural offshore wind development, a boon to Gov. Phil Murphy’s vision of achieving 100 percent clean energy for the state by 2050.
Former Red Bank Councilman Charged With Theft
By Chris Rotolo RED BANK – A recent audit of the Red Bank Education Foundation’s financial records has generated criminal allegations against its former treasurer and one-term borough council member.
Where Is The Money Going In 2022?
By Chris Rotolo While county commissioners adopted a 2022 budget that saw little change from the previous year’s totals, and no tax increase, the majority of Two River-area municipalities are nearing the conclusion of their own budgetary processes, certifying spending plans with a multitude of intriguing takeaways.
Location of Wastewater Station Still Up In The Air After Dementia Center Hearing
By Chris Rotolo HOLMDEL – An applicant witness was prodded by concerned residents and a zoning board official during a continued hearing for The Enclave, a dementia center proposed for the Potter’s Farm property situated between Red Hill Road and The Garden State Parkway.
Holmdel Affordable Housing Project Approved
By Chris Rotolo HOLMDEL – A unanimous May 3 planning board decision approved a contentious affordable housing development near the Laurel Avenue border of Hazlet. Holmdel Family Apartments, a proposed three-story construction with 91 parking spaces on 3.87 acres of vacant land, was ratified after nearly 18 months of litigation and negotiation between the neighboring municipalities.
Documentary Highlights Veterans Who Help Bring Own to Final Rest
From left, U.S. Army veteran Dan Higgins; U.S. Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient Allen Saltzman; producer, director Tom Phillips; U.S. Air Force veteran Richard Gough; U.S. Army veteran and Purple Heart recipient Ernie Diorio; Highlands Film Festival director Rob Keller; and U.S. Air Force and Vietnam War veteran and former POW Dave Drummond.
Highlands Discusses Implications of School Reorganization
By Chris Rotolo HIGHLANDS – Political leaders and legal counsel from neighboring boroughs traded counterpoints and contrasting opinions during a special meeting regarding the potential regionalization of students from three local municipalities.
Sea Bright Survey Shows Residents Favor School Regionalization
By Chris Rotolo SEA BRIGHT – Though survey results showed 73 percent of respondents favored the formation of a regionalized school district composed of students from Atlantic Highlands, Highlands and Sea Bright, there is still plenty of discussion to come before the notion is considered for a public referendum. “It’s going to be a long year ahead of meetings and public input, and we’ll need to get buy-in from all three towns for the potential of a new school district to be formed.
Opioid Settlement Sparks Discussion About Increased Substance Abuse
The state will be receiving over half a billion dollars from opioid settlements over the next 16 years, but some feel programs should be focusing on all types of substance abuse, which has been on the rise since the pandemic. By Chris Rotolo Multiple settlements with the pharmaceutical development corporation Johnson & Johnson and other opioid distributors have yielded a $641 million payout to the state, which acting Attorney General, Matt Platkin, and Gov.
George Moss History Room Opens in Rumson in Borough Hall
By Chris Rotolo RUMSON – A life dedicated to documenting the developing Monmouth County community is now on permanent display in the heart of the borough.
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