Christie comes to Asbury Park
Annual visit to The Asbury and Boardwalk to mark seasonal start
After touring neighboring Ocean Grove’s downtown, Republican Governor Chris Christie stopped by The Asbury, the city’s first hotel [of its size] in over 50 years, before taking a walk along the city’s boardwalk.
Christie and Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin were escorted onto the Baronet, a rooftop deck overlooking waterfront and city landscape, where the hotel holds yoga, afternoon dance, and movie screenings.
Tourism in New Jersey equates to a $43.4 billion industry, with more than half of its revenues generated from the Jersey shore. Monmouth County was one of the fastest growing shore counties last year, up by 5.5 percent, a point Christie said was due in large part to Asbury Park’s current success.
State, County, and local officials [at right] were in 
attendance for Christie’s annual visit to the city, which helps marks the summer season kick off.
The Asbury opened Memorial Day weekend with a lineup of entertainment at its other outdoor rooftop venue – The Salvation, and in its ground floor Sound Room.
For Mayor Moor, the hotel’s opening not only adds a much needed ratable, but its workforce development program and amenities makes it ‘a grand slam,’ he said. He thanked the governor for an EDA grant that brought improved lighting to the boardwalk.
“I’d like to thank you and your administration for your continued support of Asbury Park,” Moor said.
Pappas asked those in attendance to take away one thing from the annual summer gathering – the word ‘Today.’
“We talked about success here in Asbury Park, things that would happen once a year and then they happened every couple of months,” Pappas said. “Now back in 1980, we became slightly insignificant – so much so that the state’s Travel and Tourism guide solely listed this destination as an exit ramp on the Garden State Parkway. Now, we’ve grown a lot and every day now in Asbury Park is a special day. Every day has something new and this is the new history of Asbury Park.”
[Below boardwalk gallery begins]
“We couldn’t be more proud to stand with our partners, our citizens, our new businesses, and our historic businesses in this amazing venue and welcome you every year to Asbury Park.”
Waterfront redeveloper iStar’s Vice President of Land and Development Brian Cheripka called Asbury Park one of the ‘nation’s truly iconic shore towns.’
Their close to $50 million investment, with an over $15 million investment in infrastructure improvements “serves as a great example of how public and private sector can work together to create a new sense of excitement for the community,” Cheripka said. “I want everyone to know that this is one of 20 plus redevelopment projects that iStar has planned for the waterfront over the coming years.”
Cheripka said iStar’s goal is “to elevate the waterfront experience while preserving and building on the unique character of the city. Our commitment goes far beyond the waterfront. We want to see that all of Asbury Park enjoys the benefits of the resurgence that is underway.”
Hotelier David Bowd, owner of four hotels under his Salt brand, including The Asbury, said when he first came to Asbury Park seven years ago for an event at The Stone Pony, “I fell in love with the town – the mix of people, the range of people who come to Asbury Park, were just really so inviting.”
Bowd, who left school in the United Kingdom at age 15, created workforce development training program in conjunction with the municipality and iStar. The 10-week Salt School garnered close to 400 applications and offered 116 students committed students tutorials from industry leaders traveling to Asbury Park to teach at the ad hoc school on Saturdays at The Boys and Girls Club on Monroe Avenue. In the end 110 students graduated, and of the 65 hired to work at the hotel, over 90 percent are from Asbury Park and its surrounding areas, Bowd said.
“With doing this project, I really wanted to give back to the community and allow people a second chance,” he said.
Christie was next.
He thanked the Mayor Moor for the hard work he has been doing in the city. He spoke of the his pride in the Jersey Shore being able to recover quickly after Superstorm Sandy, saying “It’s not just because of what we’ve done at the state level and what’s happened at the federal level in terms of support from the President and the Congress, but it’s because local municipalities could not accept that they could come back, and come back quickly. And while we know that there are still a couple of thousand New Jerseyans who are still waiting for their construction to be done, to get back to their homes, what we can say is that everyone who has applied and qualified for a RREM grant now has the RREM grant, at least 50 percent of it.”
The REM or Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation, and Mitigation [RREM] Program has $1.1 billion in federal funding to help Sandy-impacted homeowners rebuild.
[View his comments in totality below].
In a written statement Christie said:
“Asbury Park flourishes today and is no longer suffering from the effects of decline,” said Governor Christie. “I’m proud that Asbury Park has truly ‘risen up’ with an energy and a pulse that is beating harder and faster than it has in decades. When people come together and work collectively toward a common goal – residents, local government officials as well as the private sector through the commitment, investment and vision of master developers like iStar– great things happen.”
Christie’s tour along the Asbury Park Boardwalk was met with some cheers and some jeers. He stopped to speak at The Market in Convention Hall that brings together independent vendors under one cohesive umbrella, spent time speaking with Silver Ball Museum’s manager Bill LaFalce, and stopped to shake hands and hold quick conversations with those who approached him.
At the foot of the Asbury Park Boardwalk’s Second Avenue entrance reporters had the chance to ask their questions before Christie ended his annual visit.
His response to those who jeered: “Look, it’s the boardwalk in New Jersey. If I didn’t get at least one or two comments then I’d say the boardwalk is filled with tourists.”
In response to the New Jersey’s role in the presidential election, Christie said, it’s the first time in a long time New Jersey will be seen as a political state instead of a fundraising said.
With regard to the Senate and Assembly Transportation Trust Fund filings, Christie said he had not seen them so he could not comment.
And with respect to North Jersey Gaming, Christie said, “I have said from the beginning that I think it’s a good idea.”
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