Asbury restaurants hurt by first night of Bamboozle
Exceptionally sparse crowds in eating establishments on a normally busy Friday
Many in Asbury Park’s downtown business district were comparing the first night of the Bamboozle festival to a huge storm, as the public took heed not to drive into the city.
On what normally would be a busy Friday night, with packed restaurants on a clear 60 degree evening, the situation more closely resembled a major snowstorm in its economic impact.
At the peak dinner hour of 8 p.m., the most popular restaurants were uncharacteristically quiet – such as Old Man Rafferty’s, Taka, Fish, Ivan and Andy’s Steakhouse, Trinity and the Pope and Bistro Ole (shown in photo above). Most had only sparse crowds with small groups of locals present. The best turnout appeared to be at the Brickwall tavern, which was about half full, particularly slow for that establishment on a Friday at 8 p.m.
None of the disappointed restaurant owners who were spotted wanted to comment on the situation. Bar owners open late were hoping for a rush after the festival concludes at 11 p.m.
Meanwhile, owners of parking lots ready to sell spaces for the evening found no takers. Empty parking spaces remained plentiful in the downtown, particularly off Cookman Avenue.
One man attending an empty downtown lot with a sign offering spaces for $20 joked that on the second night of the festival, with the much larger crowds expected, the price would be $60.
The only noticeable crowds on the streets around 8 p.m. were groups of Bamboozle festival-goers, primarily on Cookman, walking from the train station to the beachfront. Few stopped to patronize the local businesses. The visitors looked to be in their late teens and early twenties.
With Friday nights in the downtown usually much busier, skateboarders took advantage of the quiet streets by skating on Bangs Avenue behind the Steinbachs building while it was still light.
As darkness fell, the city’s streets remained quiet, as traffic moved with little problem west of Grand Avenue, and on Grand itself. Barricades were set up on many streets heading east from Grand Avenue, with a police officer present. But there was little problem controlling the flow of cars from those points to the waterfront. Many festival-goers have said they traveled to the event by train or taxi.
Festival promoter LiveNation did predict the lightest attendance for the first day of the festival, estimating 20,000 on Friday, 40,000 on Saturday and 30,000 on Sunday. Asbury Park city manager Terry Reidy told the Sun that the preliminary estimate he received earlier in the evening was approximately 23,000, which would exceed the LiveNation estimate.
