Walking The Boards

Cleanup Time For Major City Parking Lot

James Kratch — Sat, 08 Feb 2025 13:25:21 +0000

Ocean City students get ready for Super Bowl

Welcome back! Steven Spielberg is filming his latest film — reportedly a UFO flick — in Cape May next month. And there is a casting call for extras if you are interested.

Go Birds. 🦅

Also, if you haven’t already, please take our first annual reader survey here. It will help us make Walking The Boards the best possible community for Ocean City lovers in 2025.

In the email today:

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🅿️ City Council Plans Parking Lot Facelift
🐶 Big News For Ocean City’s Dogs
🏦 Republic Bank Building Is For Sale
🔗 News Links
🤳 Recommendations

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Saturday, Feb. 15

🏃 Winter Warrior Challenge | Ocean City Civic Center | 9 a.m. start, more details here
🌲 Nature & Environment Family Fun Day | OCHS | 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., more details here
🎭 Professional Broadway Series | Ocean City Music Pier | 3 p.m., more details here

See more local events right here.

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🅿️ City Council Plans Parking Lot Facelift

File photo

The city-owned parking lot at 16th Street and Haven Avenue is getting a tune-up.

Mayor Jay Gillian said the space next to the Ocean City Community Center will see aesthetic improvements this summer. The short-term plans include adding sidewalks, planting grass and removing unneeded items and materials. The city will then come up with a long-term vision. Advertising for city contracts was approved.

The move comes after Ocean City saw what Gillian called a "favorable" conclusion to its long-running legal battle over two related properties acquired through eminent domain in 2021. A Superior Court jury ruled the city owes previous property owner Palmer Center LLC a $7.2 million payout for property at 16th Street and Haven Avenue and related land at 109 16th Street. Interest payments could push the total payout higher, but the final bill is not expected to be substantially larger.

City officials previously said they would seek remediation payments to clean up the sites -- part of the plan to create a block of open public land near the community center -- but it is not clear if Palmer Center will be asked to pay for the parking lot upgrades. Palmer Center owner John Flood, a former city councilman and mayoral candidate, has suggested he could fight the jury's verdict and that cleanup responsibilities remain undetermined.

🗣️ Town Hall Meeting To Discuss Budget

There will be a town hall meeting to discuss the upcoming municipal budget and plans for capital projects over the next five years. It will be held at the Ocean City Tabernacle on Saturday, Feb. 22 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

🐶 Big News For Ocean City’s Dogs

Donald Wittkowski | OCNJ Daily

City Council has set the stage for a potential new hotel in town.

No, not that one. And this one would be for canines.

A recently-passed ordinance could lead to dog daycare facilities opening in Ocean City for the first time.

Dog breeders, kennels and pet stores are currently prohibited by city law, and that will not change. The new ordinance creates a path for a daycare provider to secure a zoning variance and receive a mercantile license. But City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said it would be a "heavy lift” for any business to get the variance. The proposal was drawn up after a company or individual expressed interest in opening a dog daycare business in the otherwise extremely pooch-friendly town, but details have not been released.

The ordinance passed on a 4-2 vote with one abstention (Council President Pete Madden for undisclosed reasons). Councilmen Keith Hartzell and Jody Levchuk said they voted no because they feared the ordinance as written could create a loophole for a puppy mill to gain licensure. McCrosson said that is not possible.

🏦 Republic Bank Building Is For Sale

Donald Wittkowski | OCNJ Daily

The now-empty Republic Bank building at Ninth Street and West Avenue is on the market with a listing price of $2.4 million.

The glass facade building initially posted a request for letters of intent, but has since shifted to a traditional real estate listing. The building has marble floors and a high-security vault; the listing said it can continue to be used as a bank or converted for commercial, office or retail space.

The location closed last year after Fulton Bank acquired Republic and shuttered the Ocean City branch. The FDIC technically controls the property until the sale to a new owner goes through. City Council President Pete Madden, who is a real estate broker, previously suggested the city buy the building — which is close to City Hall. But he said he no longer feels that makes sense.

📝 Take Our First Annual Survey

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🔗 News Links

🤳 Recommendations

Walking The Boards is now part of a larger network of local websites and newsletters.

Here are some of our other newsletters (with more on the way). You can subscribe with one click.

Our long dormant, but soon to be revived, Jersey Shore real estate newsletter:

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Everything you need to know about real estate in Ocean City, NJ. Join over 1,500 second-home owners, agents, residents, investors, and renters who subscribe to our newsletter for free.

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On Pattison

THE Philly sports newsletter. Go beyond the score with analysis, observations, stats, memes, links, and more. Sent every weekday and read in 3 minutes or less. Join the fans, beat writers, and spor...

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Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.

🛝 Could 6th Street Beach Become a Massive Playground?

James Kratch — Sat, 14 Dec 2024 18:06:31 +0000

Our newsletter this week is brought to you by Sunrise Cafe

Welcome back! Could the world’s biggest playground be coming to Ocean City? Maybe?

Also, please take our first annual reader survey here. It will help us make Walking The Boards the best possible community for Ocean City lovers in 2025.

In the email today:

☀️ Get Breakfast with Santa All Season Long
📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🛝 Playground at 6th Street?
🏴‍☠️ Playland’s Pirate Ship Will Be Ready For Sum …
🎡 Mita Makes Another Pitch
🎠 Wonderland Preservationists Propose Their Plan
🗣️ Where The City Council Stands
🏨 Occupancy Tax Gets Shot Down
🔗 News Links
🤳 Recommendations
📊 Poll Question

☀️ Get Breakfast with Santa All Season Long

Sunrise Cafe* (1200 Asbury Ave.) is offering first-come, first-serve Breakfast with Santa Saturdays and Sundays through Christmas from 9 AM to 11 AM.

You can check out their menu here.

Additionally, Sunrise is having a gift card sale.

• Spend $50, get a free $10 bonus gift card!

• Spend $100, get a free $30 bonus gift card!

• Spend $300, get a free $100 bonus gift card!

• Spend $500, get a free $200 bonus gift card!

• Spend $1000, get a free $500 bonus gift card!

Buy yours here.

*Sponsored

If you’d like to sponsor Walking The Boards in 2025, spots are filling up fast! Just reply to this email and it will go to me (Kyle). I’ll get back to you promptly.

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Saturday, Dec. 14-Sunday, Dec. 15

🎅Santa in the Downtown | Mark Soifer Park | 9-11 a.m., more details here
🐴 Horse and Carriage Rides | Boarding at Sixth Street | 12-3 p.m., more details here
🛟 Photos with Santa in a Lifeguard Boat | Ocean City Music Pier | 1-3 p.m., more details here
🎭 Anastasia: The Musical | Ocean City Music Pier | 7:30 p.m. and 2 p.m., more details here

See more local events right here.

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🛝 Playground at 6th Street?

No matter what happens with the Wonderland site, it will take a while.

City officials aim to move much quicker to fill the void in the meantime.

Mayor Jay Gillian said his administration is working on plans for the 6th Street beach after Councilman Keith Hartzell proposed turning it into a “massive playground.”

Hartzell’s pitch: It would be a free attraction for families, it would not cost the town much and, due to its size, it could become a tourist spot that draws regional and even international attention.

The beach is primarily used for summer volleyball games, exercise classes and one-off events, like the annual sand sculpting competition. Gillian cautioned beach erosion could be a complication, but Councilman Jody Levchuk said he believes the town is capable of developing a plan and having it ready for the summer.

One has to wonder if there are certain permanent installations at that site that might be wanted, or unwanted, by a potential future hotel owner next door.

🏴‍☠️ Playland’s Pirate Ship Will Be Ready For Summer

The pirate ship at Playland’s Castaway Cove will be back for the 2025 season.

Playland’s VP Brian Hartley tells Shore Local News that a new pirate ship, fabricated in California and trucked to Ocean City, will arrive this month. It will remain in storage until about February, and should be in place by Easter weekend.

The new pirate ship will be stationary, but it will play music and have cannons that fire with bursts of smoke and fog.
“The ship will not move but the cannons will fire to create a little more entertainment and make it more of a show as people are walking by,” Hartley said.
…
“The fabrication company is very well versed in this and it (the pirate ship) is going to look awesome,” he said.
The new pirate ship will be more vibrant, he added.
“The old one was constructed out of wood and built by hand,” Hartley said. “There’s so much more that can be done with the technology at hand now, like 3-D printing and molds. It will be a lot more intricate.”
Shore Local News

Arrrrgh. Me looking for me ship.

Meanwhile, Playland’s has been approved for a new family-friendly coaster - something which we first told you about a year ago - but that is still 2-3 years out.

📝 Take Our First Annual Survey

We want you to have a say in Walking The Boards.

Please take our first annual survey— it will help us better tailor future content, plan events, work with local partners, and so much more.

Takes only 3 minutes to complete. All answers are optional.

Take our first annual Walking The Boards reader survey right here.

🎡 Mita Makes Another Pitch

Eustace Mita, who wants to replace the closed amusement park with a luxury hotel, participated in a public meeting at the Ocean City Tabernacle. It was Mita's second time pitching the ICONA in Wonderland to residents.

This event was organized by City Council members Tony Polcini and Dave Winslow after Mita initially appeared at Councilman Jody Levchuk's recent community meeting.

The highlights from the 90-minute meeting, which grew contentious at times:

Mita said the project would boost the local economy and surrounding boardwalk area because "people will come just to see the hotel." He claimed that "fear-mongering" is a strategy by his opponents.
Mita reiterated he would sell the site “tomorrow” if a buyer emerged. He did not name a price, but said the lot was appraised at $25 million and he has spent over $1 million annually on the site since becoming its owner in 2021. Mayor Jay Gillian said he does not believe the city should try to buy the site for an alternative plan.
There remains significant public pushback against Mita's effort to have City Council formally declare the site as a redevelopment zone. Current zoning laws do not permit hotel construction in the area; a redevelopment designation would supersede that. Opponents say Mita is trying to pull an end-around on zoning laws. The developer argues the designation would expedite his ability to build the hotel and that the normal process could take years.
People who live in the nearby Plaza Place enclave expressed concerns the 7 1/2-story hotel would overshadow their community and be a "monstrosity."
Ocean City resident Jack McGinnis -- the former mayor of Tabernacle -- had a heated exchange with Mita, asking if Gillian and his family -- the former Wonderland owners -- would benefit financially from the project. "The mayor has zero gain," Mita said. "The mayor has gone through hell for this city."
Mita recently bought Wonderland's Batman jet and helicopter rides, and he already owns the iconic carousel, Ferris wheel and the Wet Boat rides. The newly-purchased attractions will also be incorporated into the project.

🎠 Wonderland Preservationists Propose Their Plan

A local preservation group and other hotel opponents unveiled renderings for a modernized Wonderland amusement park.

Advocates of the alternative proposal — which would be known as "Wonderland Commons" or "Wonderland Square" — say their plan would make the site a draw for families and children again and stimulate other boardwalk businesses

"It's not just about saving an old amusement park," said Helen Struckmann, a leader of Save Wonderland. "It's about saving the heart and soul of the island."

Bill Merritt, the president of Friends of OCNJ History & Culture, said the group does not have a projected cost figure for the proposal or a developer attached to it. The group has raised over $1 million to "de-risk" the process; Merritt said that money could go toward refurbishing the Wonderland carousel and Ferris wheel.

Mita has pledged at least $2.5 million toward retooling the iconic rides. But Merritt believes the actual work could cost more than double that. Mayor Gillian has said he believes the rides should likely be replaced rather than refurbished.

Also of note: Peter Voudouris, the director of hotel and banquet operations at the Flanders Hotel (a potential ICONA rival), said he believes Ocean City already has enough motel and hotel rooms to meet demand. Mita has argued the city needs more such lodging.

🗣️ Where The City Council Stands

Mayor Gillian pledged the city will "painstakingly" review the Wonderland proposal before taking action.

"Don't think this is a done deal," he said Thursday during a City Council meeting. "Whatever happens, it will be a community agreement. ... Nobody's going to take advantage of us."

Mita bought the lot when Gillian defaulted on an $8 million mortgage. The mayor closed Wonderland for good on Oct. 13 after years of financial woes. He again apologized for the park's failure, but said it was time to move forward.

Gillian rejected any assertion he could financially benefit if Mita builds the hotel and urged residents to "just take a breath and not attack and not come up with just B.S. reasons" to assail the process.

Second Ward Councilman Keith Hartzell has come out against the proposal. At-Large Councilman Sean Barnes said he is against a high-rise hotel on the boardwalk but pledged to review Mita's proposal "as objectively as possible." The other council members have not taken a public stance.

🏨 Occupancy Tax Gets Shot Down

Ocean City will not move forward with a 3% occupancy tax on hotel and motel rooms and online rental properties.

City Council originally introduced the ordinance by a 4-3 vote. But final approval was tabled after pushback from hotel and motel officials. Council President Pete Madden said the members will take a step back and re-evaluate the issue, but he does not anticipate the matter being revisited in the near future.

A local occupancy tax -- which would have been collected by the state and then sent back to the city -- had been considered for two years. It was viewed as an untapped revenue stream given many other shore communities have a tax on the books.

The tax was initially proposed solely for rental properties booked online through services like Airbnb. But motels and hotels were later added. Visitors already pay a 5% state occupancy tax plus a state sales tax of 6.625%.

🔗 News Links

🤳 Recommendations

Walking The Boards is now part of a larger network of local websites and newsletters.

Here are some of our other newsletters (with more on the way). You can subscribe with one click.

Our long dormant, but soon to be revived, Jersey Shore real estate newsletter:

Shore Cribs

Everything you need to know about real estate in Ocean City, NJ. Join over 1,500 second-home owners, agents, residents, investors, and renters who subscribe to our newsletter for free.

For Philly sports fans (sent 5x per week):

On Pattison

For people who live in the Blue Bell, Ambler, and Whitpain areas:

Wiss Now

For people who live in Central Bucks:

Central Bucks Now

For people who live in the Lansdale, Montgomeryville, North Penn and Harleysville area:

North Penn Now

📊 Poll Question

Last week’s question: If you had to choose, which would you prefer on the Wonderland site?

Hotel (63%)
Amusement park (27%)
Retail stores (10%)

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.

Wonderland Developer Meets The Public: What We Learned

James Kratch — Sat, 30 Nov 2024 15:55:55 +0000

Our newsletter this week brought to you by Sunrise Cafe

Donald Wittkowski | OCNJ Daily

Welcome back! We hope you had a great Thanksgiving. There are even more developments on the Wonderland, including the possibility the cost to stay there may be 3% higher before they even break ground!

In the email today:

☀️ Get Breakfast with Santa All Season Long
📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🎡 Wonderland Talk Dominates Community Meeting
🎠 More Wonderland Alternatives Emerge
🏨 Occupancy Tax For Lodging Heads To Final Vote
🚧 Road and Infrastructure Work Updates
🔗 News Links
🤳 Recommendations
📊 Poll Question

☀️ Get Breakfast with Santa All Season Long

Sunrise Cafe* (1200 Asbury Ave.) is offering first-come, first-serve Breakfast with Santa Saturdays and Sundays through Christmas from 9 AM to 11 AM.

You can check out their menu here.

*Sponsored

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Saturday, Nov. 30

🎶 Ocean City Pops Holiday Show | Ocean City Music Pier | 6 p.m., tickets here

Saturday, Nov. 30-Sunday, Dec. 1

🎅Santa in the Downtown | Mark Soifer Park | 9-11 a.m., more details here
🐴 Horse and Carriage Rides | Boarding at Sixth Street | 12-3 p.m., more details here
🛟 Photos with Santa in a Lifeguard Boat | Ocean City Music Pier | 1-3 p.m., more details here

Friday, Dec. 6

🎄 Christmas Parade | Asbury Avenue from 6th to 11th Streets | 6 p.m., more details here

Saturday, Dec. 7-Sunday, Dec. 8

🚂 Train Show | Ocean City Music Pier | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., more details here

See more local events right here.

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🎡 Wonderland Talk Dominates Community Meeting

Developer Eustace Mita discussed his ICONA in Wonderland proposal and answered questions on Monday during a community meeting hosted by Third Ward Councilman Jody Levchuk.

There was a lot said, plus a bit of news. Let's break it down:

Mita, the new owner of the Wonderland lot, laid out the project details previously reported here and on OCNJ Daily. He said Ocean City has lost roughly 2,000 hotel and motel rooms in the last 30 years and only has about 1,000 in total, so there is a significant need for more to get more families visiting town.
Mita sparred with the leader of, so far, the strongest opposition to the proposal. Bill Merritt, the president of the Friends of OCNJ History & Culture preservation group, asked Mita if he planned to “maintain Wonderland as a blight until you get your way?” during a contentious exchange. Mita accused Merritt of “grandstanding” and invited him to have a personal discussion, but Merritt said Mita has dodged emails and letters from his group.
Mita, who lives in Ocean City, said he and his family have been targeted with personal attacks that are "way out of bounds” but did not provide specifics.
Mita reiterated his push for City Council to formally designate the Wonderland lot as a redevelopment zone, which would get around zoning restrictions against a hotel at the site.
Mita said a redevelopment designation would only apply to the Wonderland lot and that other developers would not assume the financial risk of pursuing hotel projects in the city. He said he anticipates ICONA in Wonderland would lose money for at least its first 10 years in operation.
Residents who support Mita's proposal also spoke during the meeting, with the developer receiving applause at times during his hour-plus at the dais. He said after the meeting that he felt it was a 50-50 split.

Mita is expected to host his own public meeting sometime in December at the Ocean City Tabernacle, but a date and time have not been announced.

🎠 More Wonderland Alternatives Emerge

So what happens if Ocean City does not give the redevelopment designation to the lot? Mita said he would likely build about 13 retail stores instead.

But he also made it clear he would entertain selling the lot. Mita did not name a price, but made it clear he would have to break even. The developer assumed $8 million in mortgage debt on the property and has paid $5 million in carrying fees since then, so any deal would have to be north of $13 million when also factoring in the land’s appraisal value.

There may be an interested buyer, too. Dustin Alvino — an Ocean City resident who owns cannabis dispensaries — told OCNJ Daily he is interested in forming an investment group to buy the lot for the right price and transform it into some form of family entertainment. Friends of OCNJ History & Culture has also proposed a new amusement park of some sort on the lot, claiming it has already raised over $1 million for its effort.

🏨 Occupancy Tax For Lodging Heads To Final Vote

Donald Wittkowski | OCNJ Daily

Guests staying at Ocean City hotels (or motels or rental properties) could soon have to pay a bit more.

City Council introduced an ordinance instituting a 3% occupancy tax in a tight 4-3 vote. The measure will now have a public hearing and final vote at Thursday’s council meeting. The ordinance was originally only slated to impact online booking rentals (i.e. Airbnb and VRBO), but some council members pushed to include hotels and motels in an effort to maintain a level playing field.

The ordinance is designed to generate additional revenue for the city. Over 100 Shore towns already have occupancy taxes on the books, so advocates argue Ocean City is leaving money on the table. It would take effect Jan. 1 if approved. The state would collect the tax along with its 5% occupancy tax and sales tax, and then distribute the funds to the city. There is no estimate on exactly how much additional revenue the ordinance would generate.

🚧 Road and Infrastructure Work Updates

Mayor Gillian recently outlined several developments:

Final concrete/paving work on West Avenue from Ninth Street to 18th Street will begin before the end of the year and be completed in the spring. Final paving of West Avenue from North Street to Ninth Street was set to be finished last week. West Avenue will be new from North Street to 34th Street by next spring.
A new section of bulkhead on Clubhouse Lagoon (at the end of Bayland Drive) is being constructed to tie into new bulkheads completed by private slip owners. Work is expected to begin before the end of the year and be completed by spring.
The city will expand and extend the stormwater outfall pipe at Fifth Street to address flooding issues on the beach block. Work expected to begin before the end of the year and be complete in the spring.
The Merion Park flood mitigation project's new pumping stations are expected to be operational by the first week of December.
Work on a major paving project between 18th Street and 33rd Street continues on schedule. A portion of Central Avenue will be paved by the end of the year with the rest of the streets completed in the spring.

🔗 News Links

🤳 Recommendations

Walking The Boards is now part of a larger network of local websites and newsletters.

Here are some of our other newsletters (with more on the way). You can subscribe with one click.

Our long dormant, but soon to be revived, Jersey Shore real estate newsletter:

Shore Cribs

Everything you need to know about real estate in Ocean City, NJ. Join over 1,500 second-home owners, agents, residents, investors, and renters who subscribe to our newsletter for free.

For Philly sports fans (sent 5x per week):

On Pattison

For people who live in the Blue Bell, Ambler, and Whitpain areas:

Wiss Now

For people who live in Central Bucks:

Central Bucks Now

For people who live in the Lansdale, Montgomeryville, North Penn and Harleysville area:

North Penn Now

📊 Poll Question

Have you taken our subscriber survey yet? We want to learn a bit more about our readers so we can continue to bring you THE BEST Ocean City content. If you haven’t already, take 30 seconds to tell us about your favorite part of the island, pizza, and ice cream. Take the subscriber survey right here.

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.

Rival Wonderland Proposal Begins To Emerge

James Kratch — Sat, 23 Nov 2024 15:22:12 +0000

Donald Wittkowski | OCNJ Daily

More Wonderland proposals, holiday season arrives, and yep, beach tags for sale!

In the email today:

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🎡 An Alternative Plan For Wonderland
🚨 False Alarm On The Ferris Wheel
🏖️ Get Your 2025 Beach Tags!
🎣 Fishing Pier Makeover On The Way
🎅 Take A Photo With Santa Claus
🔗 News Links
🤳 Recommendations
📊 Poll Question

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Saturday, Nov. 23

🛍️ “Earlier than the Bird” Shopping Extravaganza | Downtown | 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., more details here
🐴 Horse and Carriage Rides | Sixth Street | 12-3 p.m., more details here
🎶 Lucinda Williams and Her Band | Ocean City Music Pier | 8 p.m., more details here

Thursday, Nov. 28

🏃 Fast & Furriest 5K Turkey Trot | Ocean City Boardwalk | 7 a.m. registration, 8:30 a.m. run, more details here

Friday, Nov. 29

🎄 Christmas in the Downtown celebration | Downtown Ocean City | 2-5 p.m., more details here

See more local events right here.

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🎡 An Alternative Plan For Wonderland

Friends of OCNJ History & Culture has done more than voice its opposition to hotel developer Eustace Mita's pitch to build a luxury hotel and retail area on the Wonderland lot. The local preservation group said it has its own plan for the space and already has significant financial backing.

The pitch will be revealed at a community meeting on Saturday, Nov. 30 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Tabernacle Baptist Church. Some of the early details:

The group wants the site to remain an amusement park of some type, and it is open to Mita -- who owns the lot -- being part of the project.
President Bill Merritt said the group has already raised over $1 million toward the effort. It plans to pool even more capital to move forward.
Friends of OCNJ History & Culture have effectively merged with the Ocean City Old Home Lovers in the effort, giving the groups a combined membership of 10,000.
Merritt said he believes Mita's ICONA in Wonderland would be "a bad model" for myriad reasons. Among them: It would disrupt the surrounding neighborhood, block sunlight and fail to push people into the downtown area.

Mita has presented his pitch to business and elected officials and given media interviews, but he has yet to formally go public with proposal. That will soon change.

The developer is expected to speak at Third Ward Councilman Jody Levchuk's community meeting on Monday, Nov. 25. It will start at 6 p.m. at the Ocean City Free Public Library's Chris Maloney Lecture Hall.

Mita said he also plans to hold his own community meeting in early December. The date and time are pending, but the meeting will be at the Ocean City Tabernacle.

🚨 False Alarm On The Ferris Wheel

Talk about a tempest in a Tilt-A-Whirl.

There was momentary pandemonium when a published sale list for Wonderland infrastructure included its carousel and Ferris wheel. But it was a mistake, not a stunning and sudden reversal.

Mita reiterated the carousel and Ferris wheel are not for sale and remain part of his plan. Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian -- the former Wonderland owner -- was asked to remove them from the list as he tries to liquidate the rest of the park's attractions through an amusement park trade show in Orlando, Florida.

An interesting note: The original sale list valued the carousel at $250,000. Mita has said he plans to spend $1.5 million to refurbish the carousel, so his overhaul will be six times the ride's current worth. The Ferris wheel was valued at $390,000— Mita said he plans to spend $1 million to move and elevate it.

🏖️ Get Your 2025 Beach Tags!

Seasonal beach tags for Summer 2025 go on sale today.

The tags will be available at a discounted rate of $30 through May 31 of next year. They will be $35 after that. Only seasonal tags are currently available; daily ($10) and weekly ($20) tags go on sale during the summer season. All Ocean City beachgoers ages 12 and older are required to have tags from June 7 to Sept. 1.

You can buy tags online at this link. If you would prefer to purchase them in person, they are available at these locations in town:

City Hall: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Route 52 Welcome Center: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday-Friday; 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday
Henry Knight Building: 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday-Friday
Aquatic & Fitness Center: 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday-Friday; 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday; 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.
46th Street Welcome Center: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday-Sunday.

🎣 Fishing Pier Makeover On The Way

Donald Wittkowski | OCNJ Daily

Anglers will soon get some new digs alongside the Ocean City-Longport Bridge. The Cape May County Bridge Commission will give the deteriorating fishing pier an estimated $500,000 facelift to make it more inviting for fishing and visitors. The goal is to complete the work by next summer; the planned upgrades include:

New concrete benches and railings
A new fenced trash enclosure and new trash receptacles
New fish clean-out stations
Updated electrical conduit and wiring
Repairs to the concrete deck surface and joints

🎅 Take A Photo With Santa Claus

A WTB reader asked when and where she could get a photo of her newborn grandson and Santa Claus for his first Christmas. Here are a few upcoming opportunities:

Santa will take photos in a lifeguard boat at the Ocean City Music Pier from 1-3 p.m. on the following dates: Nov. 30, Dec. 1, Dec. 7-8, Dec. 14-15 and Dec. 21-22.

Santa in the Downtown will occur at Mark Soifer Park from 9-11 a.m. on Nov. 30, Dec. 1, Dec. 7-8, Dec. 14-15 and Dec. 21-22.

🔗 News Links

🤳 Recommendations

Walking The Boards is now part of a larger network of local websites and newsletters.

Here are some of our other newsletters (with more on the way). You can subscribe with one click.

Our long dormant, but soon to be revived, Jersey Shore real estate newsletter:

Shore Cribs

Everything you need to know about real estate in Ocean City, NJ. Join over 1,500 second-home owners, agents, residents, investors, and renters who subscribe to our newsletter for free.

For Philly sports fans (sent 5x per week):

On Pattison

For people who live in the Blue Bell, Ambler, and Whitpain areas:

Wiss Now

For people who live in Central Bucks:

Central Bucks Now

For people who live in the Lansdale, Montgomeryville, North Penn and Harleysville area:

North Penn Now

📊 Poll Question

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.

The Wonderland Plans Are Here, Now What?

James Kratch — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 14:59:12 +0000

We’re back. The second newsletter in four days, but that’s what happens when once-in-a-century change gets put on the table. Let’s get to it!

In the email today:

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🎡 Taking Stock After the Wonderland Plans Reveal
🤳 Our Take
🗣️ WTB Subscribers Sound Off
🚧 West Avenue Repaving Next Week
🎄 It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas
📜 Historical Museum Celebrates 60th Anniversary
🏘️ Venue Change For Third Ward Meeting
🔗 News Links
🤳 Recommendations
📊 Poll For Owners Who Rent

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Saturday, Nov. 16

❄️ Winterfest By The Sea | Ocean City Civic Center | 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., more details here

Saturday, Nov. 23

🛍️ “Earlier than the Bird” Shopping Extravaganza | Downtown | 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., more details here
🐴 Horse and Carriage Rides | Sixth Street | 12-3 p.m., more details here
🎶 Lucinda Williams and Her Band | Ocean City Music Pier | 8 p.m., more details here

See more local events right here.

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🎡 Taking Stock After the Wonderland Plans Reveal

We have reached the end of the beginning of the future of Wonderland.

Well, maybe?

If you missed our emergency send with exclusive renderings earlier in the week -- or just need a quick refresh — here are the key cliff notes:

Eustace Mita — a developer and the current owner of the property — plans to build a $135 million upscale hotel — ICONA in Wonderland — to replace the now-shuttered amusement park.
He intends to preserve and incorporate the iconic carousel and ferris wheel into the design, with plans to spruce up both and relocate the ferris wheel on the property, turning it sideways.
The hotel will be 7 1/2 stories tall with 252 rooms and indoor and outdoor swimming pools.
There will be 375 parking spaces under the hotel and 10-13 retail outlets outside it.
Mita said the hotel WILL NOT seek a liquor license, but guests will be permitted to bring their own alcohol for weddings and special events.
- It’s unclear if he will pursue a byo club-like restaurant, the way Dockside Kitchen does.
The project would take about two years to complete.

OK, so what happens next?

Mita has presented his plan to the Boardwalk Merchants Association, Mayor Jay Gillian and City Council members in a private gathering, and given an interview to The Philadelphia Inquirer. But he technically has yet to make a pitch to the public — something the elected officials leaned on.

Gillian declined comment until the project has circulated among the public.

The attending council members largely echoed him, although the Second Ward’s Keith Hartzell said he is currently against the proposal, citing concerns about a luxury hotel fitting the community and a lack of sufficient parking.

The city has already rejected a past Mita pitch for a Wonderland hotel — in 2021 — but that was before the amusement park closed for good. So the opinions of elected officials — and their constituents — could be different this time around.

As for the business community: BMA President Wes Kazmarck said his group will likely take a formal stance next month, but he did say Mita made “an excellent presentation.” And the Third Ward’s Jody Levchuk said BMA members “seemed very positive to it."

A potential major sticking point: Ocean City’s zoning laws currently prohibit hotel construction on the Wonderland site. Mita wants City Council to formally designate the area as “in need of redevelopment,” which would clear the way to build the hotel (and, Mita said, give the city tax advantages). But that also complicates the politics of the situation further.

🤳 Our Take

Here’s my (Kyle) thoughts on the matter:

A few weeks ago, based on conjecture and a bit of whispered knowledge, I outlined a suggestion for Wonderland similar to the proposal that came this week: hotel, keep the iconic rides, some parking, and retail.

I noted that nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake often impedes progress. Certainly, the city could do worse than Mita proposing a beautiful-looking hotel that is modeled after the famous Hotel del Coronado in California and ergo the Grand Floridian in Disney World (which took its cues from the CA hotel), and which also happens to be in the same color scheme and general motif as the Wonderland Pier amusement park. A new establishment, with a nod to the past and bygone era. Hard to argue with that.

Some are complaining about sightlines, congestion, and even noise. But that’s a really difficult argument to make when the existing establishment was an amusement park. Like, things won’t get louder, or crazier.

For me, the key lies, frankly, in the retail portion of the establishment. Most people reading this newsletter will never actually stay at Icona in Wonderland. But many of us will shop at those retail outlets, dine at its restaurant (presumably there will be a restaurant?), and visit the iconic rides.

3 things I’d like to see:

The retail shops should be - how do I put this gently? - more upscale than what’s on the rest of the Boardwalk. I’m not talking high-end, but more akin to what you would find on Asbury Ave. or even 96th Street in Stone Harbor vs. another t-shirt shop or chocolate-dipped bacon stand.
Old-timey hand-dipped ice cream, like we have elsewhere in town but not really on the Boardwalk, or a gelato stand. We don’t need another Kohr Brothers, Dairy Queen, Rita’s, or, gross, a Cinnabon-with-an-Auntie-Anne’s attached— please don’t do that.
A decent restaurant, with a view. This thing is begging for a 7th floor restaurant looking out on the Atlantic.

Overall, the general public should want to visit the site. Adorning its grounds and lobby with Ocean City nostalgia and memorabilia would be a real home run also.

🗣️ WTB Subscribers Sound Off

Early reviews on the Wonderland proposal have been mixed in this corner of the Ocean City universe. From the poll we ran in our emergency send:

46% gave the plan 1 (sideways) ferris wheel out of 3 🎡
38% are all in and gave it 3 ferris wheels 🎡 🎡 🎡
16% are in the middle with 2 ferris wheels 🎡 🎡

And some of the comments we received:

Beautiful rendering and can’t wait to see this new jewel! The city and the boardwalk especially need to raise the bar.

Disgusting. Let's overbuild and let greed rule the day - it'll change the town. So, so sad to see this.

I like the idea. More hotel rooms, more people to buy more and spend more on the boardwalk as well as in town.

I thank plus welcome any progress into this town. Good things have happened, the expansion and renewal of the boardwalk, the beautiful building that is going up at the ol’ arcade site with playland. Nostalgia was nice with Wonderland but since the property was not a viable business, let the process of getting better happen. Keep the wheel and MGR or not.

7.5 stories!?! Hard stop. No.

Ugh, beaches are too crowded already!! All those people with all those cars!! No thanks!! I am going to have a good cry.

If the orientation of the ferris wheel allows it to be seen as clearly as it is now when coming over the 9th Street Bridge I don't mind reorienting it. The way it is now adds to the grandeur of coming into Ocean City. I hope it will be lit all year long.

The hotel is too big!! Love that he’s attempting to keep some nostalgia but I won’t plan to patronize the hotel.

Build this and we are no longer a family resort. Also there is no space for all those people on the beach. It's a gorgeous building but it belongs somewhere else.

It looks beautiful! As a homeowner in OCNJ, I welcome modernization that honors the beauty and history of the town. This design and even the hotel name does that. We can't stay in the past forever!

🚧 West Avenue Repaving Next Week

The city will repave West Avenue from North Street to Ninth Street starting Monday. Here is the work schedule (weather permitting):

Monday, Nov. 18: Milling and grading from North Street to Second Street
Tuesday, Nov. 19: Paving from North Street to Second Street
Wednesday, Nov. 20: Milling and grading from Second Street to Fifth Street
Thursday, Nov. 21: Paving from Second Street to Fifth Street
Friday, Nov. 22: Milling and grading from Sixth Street to Ninth Street
Monday, Nov. 25: Paving from Sixth Street to Ninth Street

Drivers should use caution with driving through the areas and refrain from parking on the roads from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. during construction. The city is currently in the bidding process to repave West Avenue from Ninth Street to 18th Street; that work is expected to be finished in the spring.

🎄 It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Max Kelly | OCNJ Daily

Thanksgiving is still roughly two weeks away, but Ocean City is already decking the halls.

Asbury Avenue is awash in lights, wreaths and garland from 6th to 14th Streets.
City Hall’s Christmas tree is already up outside, as well as wreaths on every window.
And downtown businesses are also getting in the (early) festive spirit.

Registration is now open for two annual holiday events: the Ocean City Holiday House Decorating Contest and the Ocean City Christmas Parade.

You have until Dec. 11 to sign up for the decorating contest, which will award various prizes. Contest and registration information can be found here— organizers will publish a list of all participants so community members can enjoy the displays.

Anyone interested in parade participation — cars, floats, walking units, cheer/dance teams or musical acts — must register here by Nov. 29.

Max Kelly | OCNJ Daily

📜 Historical Museum Celebrates 60th Anniversary

The Ocean City Historical Museum will hold its 60th Anniversary Luncheon on Sunday, Dec. 8 at the Flanders Hotel from 12:30-3:30 p.m. The celebration will also feature a silent auction and a presentation on the museum’s history. Tickets are $45; more details can be found here.

🏘️ Venue Change For Third Ward Meeting

Third Ward Councilman Jody Levchuk has moved his upcoming ward meeting. It is still scheduled for Monday, Nov. 25 at 6 p.m., but it will be held at the Chris Maloney Lecture Hall at the Ocean City Public Library (it was originally slated for City Hall).

Levchuk will lead an open discussion of issues impacting the Third Ward — which runs from the south side of 12th Street to the north side of 26th Street — and Ocean City at large. No formal actions will be taken.

Tickets and Discounts

🔗 News Links

Local firefighter assists hurricane recover in North Carolina 👨‍🚒
Ocean City honors its own on Veterans Day 🇺🇸
Somers Point man gets 12 years for drug trafficking 🚔

🤳 Recommendations

Walking The Boards is now part of a larger network of local websites and newsletters.

Here are some of our other newsletters (with more on the way). You can subscribe with one click.

Our long dormant, but soon to be revived, Jersey Shore real estate newsletter:

Shore Cribs

Everything you need to know about real estate in Ocean City, NJ. Join over 1,500 second-home owners, agents, residents, investors, and renters who subscribe to our newsletter for free.

For Philly sports fans (sent 5x per week):

On Pattison

For people who live in the Blue Bell, Ambler, and Whitpain areas:

Wiss Now

For people who live in Central Bucks:

Central Bucks Now

For people who live in the Lansdale, Montgomeryville, North Penn and Harleysville area:

North Penn Now

📊 Poll Question

Last Week’s Poll Question: For owners who rent their homes: What is one pain point in the process of renting your house or condo in Ocean City?

Realtor fees and commissions are too expensive (40%)
Cleaning the property every week (20%)
None, I have no issues (20%)
Not enough promotion of my property (10%)
Do-it-yourself sites (like VRBO or VROCNJ) require too much work (6%)
Other (4%)

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.

Breaking: Plans For Wonderland Revealed (Exclusive Pics)

Kyle Scott — Wed, 13 Nov 2024 21:33:03 +0000

We interrupt our normal sending schedule to bring you this most important update.

We now know plans for the Wonderland Pier site, according to a report in the Inquirer.

Here are the details.

As expected, owner of the property and notable Shore developer Eustace Mita plans to build a 7-story hotel called “Icona in Wonderland” and will rebuild and renovate the carousel and ferris wheel, respectively.

Plans were shared with City Council members and the Boardwalk Merchants Association
Proposed hotel would be 7.5 stories with 252 rooms
Ferris wheel will be reoriented to run “east-west” rather than its current position of “north-south” and will sit on the north side of the property
Mita told the Inquirer he will spend $1.5 million to rebuild the carousel and $1 million to move, elevate, and redecorate the ferris wheel with new lights
Mita pointed to the fact that the city hasn’t had a new hotel in 50 years, and said his resort would bring in a thousand new customers on the Boardwalk every three days in summer
A zoning change may not be required— rather, Mita seeks to designate the area as a “redevelopment zone”, which would require City Council approval
The plan includes 375 parking spots for guests
Mita says he will not seek a liquor license

Mita has not formerly gone public with the plans. Councilman Jody Levchuk, who owns Jilly’s, has encouraged him to do so. Rather, it seems the plan has been shopped to local business owners and select council members.

Here are more exclusively obtained photos:

We’ll have more later this week. In the meantime, stayed tuned to OCNJDaily.com for all the updates.

📊 Poll

Ocean City Plans To Buy More Property

James Kratch — Sat, 09 Nov 2024 14:36:50 +0000

Playland’s arcade slowly taking shape

Good morning. Lots of updates in the email today— Playland’s arcade, what to do with open space on 16th and 17th Streets, Ocean City plans to buy another property, and more.

Let’s get to it.

In the email today:

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🚜 Extreme Makeover: Ocean City Edition
🏴‍☠️ The Latest On Playland’s Arcade Re-Opening
🏠 City Council Pitches Another Real Estate Purcha …
🧼 Lagoon Cleanups Will Be Tough Mudding
🔗 News Links
🤳 Recommendations
📊 Poll For Owners Who Rent

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Saturday, Nov. 9

👻 The Night Side | Gateway Playhouse in Somers Point | 7 p.m., more details here

Monday, Nov. 11

🇺🇸 Veterans Day Program | Ocean City Tabernacle | 11 a.m.

Saturday, Nov. 16

❄️ Winterfest By The Sea | Ocean City Civic Center | 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., more details here

See more local events right here.

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🚜 Extreme Makeover: Ocean City Edition

What to do with that $20 million swath of land City Council just bought?

ICYMI: Ocean City has acquired the entire city block from 16th to 17th Streets between Haven and Simpson Avenues, plus a section on the opposite side of 16th Street.

The city recently sought public opinions on how to develop the corridor between 15th and 20th Streets near the Ocean City Community Center and Ocean City Intermediate School.

Mayor Jay Gillian said close to 200 suggestions have been submitted. The general gist of the ideas:

Open space/passive recreation (i.e. an amphitheater, gardens, trails)
Active recreation such as pickleball courts and a skating rink
Additional parking or affordable housing

The final approach could also be all of the above, Gillian said. No decisions have been made yet. He pledged City Council will work with the public and the local school district throughout the process.

What would you like to see done? Reply to this email with your ideas.

🏴‍☠️ The Latest On Playland’s Arcade Re-Opening

When one local amusement institution closes, another's long-awaited re-opening is apparently in sight.

The arcade at Playland's Castaway Cove has been shuttered since a four-alarm fire damaged the building (and destroyed the iconic pirate ship sitting atop it) in early 2021. The re-opening has been pushed back several times due to various delays. But now, a few weeks after Wonderland shut down, it looks like the stops and starts have come to an end.

Playland now expects the arcade to re-open in the spring of 2025, according to a recent Facebook post.

Plans for a new family-friendly roller coaster sitting atop the park, as we previously reported, are pretty much at a standstill. That may still take years.

🏠 City Council Pitches Another Real Estate Purchase

Ocean City wants to follow up its recent real estate deals with yet another acquisition: A three-story home that sits next door to City Hall and is right around the corner from the downtown business district.

City Council has introduced a $750,000 ordinance to purchase the house from its current owner and occupant. SaltWorks, a custom framing business, approached the city after learning the town had dropped $3.3 million to buy two private parking lots near City Hall.

A public hearing and final vote is scheduled for Nov. 21. The city would use the building for office space in the short term, but it may eventually be demolished to create even more parking spaces as plans move forward with the much-needed renovation of the Public Safety Building.

As we said in our last email… they paved paradise, and put up a parking lot.

🧼 Lagoon Cleanups Will Be Tough Mudding

Ocean City has awarded the Marmora-based Scarborough Marine Group an $820,000 contract for the annual dredging of back-bay lagoons. They will have excavated about 11,000 cubic yards of muck and mud from the bottoms of Snug and Sunny Harbors when the work is done.

The work will deepen smaller lagoons and allow bayside residents to use their boats without getting stuck during low tide. Dredging is also expected to have positive enviromental impacts, increase bayfront property values and make the lagoons safer for swimming. The excavated mud will then be transported to a Corbin City nursery to replenish the soil there.

A key note for property owners in town: Scarborough Marine will be able to dredge privately-owned boat slips and docks once its work for the city ends. While owners will need to reach private agreements with the company, they will be able to piggyback off the existing dredging permit granted by the city, which will expedite work.

🔗 News Links

🤳 Recommendations

Walking The Boards is now part of a larger network of local websites and newsletters.

Here are some of our other newsletters (with more on the way). You can subscribe with one click.

Our long dormant, but soon to be revived, Jersey Shore real estate newsletter:

Shore Cribs

Everything you need to know about real estate in Ocean City, NJ. Join over 1,500 second-home owners, agents, residents, investors, and renters who subscribe to our newsletter for free.

For Philly sports fans (sent 5x per week):

On Pattison

For people who live in the Blue Bell, Ambler, and Whitpain areas:

Wiss Now

For people who live in Central Bucks:

Central Bucks Now

For people who live in the Lansdale, Montgomeryville, North Penn and Harleysville area:

North Penn Now

📊 Poll

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.

What To Do With Wonderland

Kyle Scott — Sat, 26 Oct 2024 13:06:33 +0000

from (@mattphoto._) on Instagram

Hello, and welcome to our 600 (!) new subscribers since our last send— especially those of you who found us through our sister publication, OCNJ Daily. Unlike pizza prices on the island, we promise not to let you down.

Jam packed newsletter as always this week, including your responses and feedback on what should become of the Wonderland site.

Let’s get to it.

In the email today:

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🎡 Mayor Gillian Tells People To Move on From Wond …
🗣️ Your Responses To Our Wonderland Poll
🤳 My Take on What To Do With Wonderland
🌊 Flood of Concerns
🧠 Use Your Imagination
🐶 Underdog Day Afternoon
👮 Boardwalk Bureau
🎟️ Tickets and Discounts
🔗 News Links
🤳 Recommendations
📊 Poll

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Saturday, October 26

👟 Walk to End Alzheimer’s | Ocean City Civic Center | 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., more details here
🛼 Halloween Costume Skate | Ocean City Skate Park | 4 p.m. to dusk
🐕 Howl-O-Ween Parade | Boardwalk | Full details here

Saturday and Sunday, October 26-27

🐶 Dog Days on the Boardwalk | Ocean City Boardwalk | Leashed dogs are permitted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday

Thursday, October 31

🎃 Traditional Trick-or-Treating | Ocean City | Official hours are 5-8 p.m.

See more local events right here.

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🎡 Mayor Gillian Tells People To Move on From Wonderland

Last week, Mayor Gillian spoke to about 100 people at a town hall event, urging them to move on from Wonderland.

He said it was time to “say goodbye” and begin to focus on plans for development
- those plans will come from developer Eustace Mita, who has told the city he needs about six months to study the property before coming up with one
A local preservation group called Friends of OCNJ History & Culture has been raising money (apparently up to $1 million, mostly from one donor) to save the site
They see three options for saving it:
- 1) raising enough money to buy it from Mita
- 2) Mita donating the land to a non-profit that would run an amusement park
- 3) the city acquiring the land through eminent domain

All of those feel about as likely as Wonder Bear barricading himself inside the old shooting gallery and going out Wild West-style.

“over my dead body”

So, we slide back to reality, and consider your thoughts on the most likely scenario— some sort of hotel + commercial establishment.

🗣️ Your Responses To Our Wonderland Poll

The Question

Our poll question last week

The Results

Based on hundreds of responses

I don't like it, keep the amusement park: 57%
I like it, but only if they keep some amusements: 26%
I like it, and they don’t need to keep amusements: 9%
Other and indifference: 8%

That’s a whopping 83% of respondents who want to keep at least some amusement features.

The comments:

For what it’s worth: Mita said it will take him six months to make a decision. Mind you, almost any proposal would yield a public debate and require subsequent city approval.

Still, given his Icona hotels in other parts of the Jersey Shore and prior proposals for a hotel at this location, the speculation is warranted.

🤳 My Take on What To Do With Wonderland

Kyle writing here…

The knee-jerk reaction to pretty much anything in Ocean City is anti-change. That’s reasonable given the city’s old-timey, wholesome vibes.

But there are limits to that sort of conservative approach.

At a certain point, nostalgia impedes progress.

So I share 2 views:

1) Some sort of family-friendly attraction should remain. Wonderland Pier was an “anchor tenant”, so to speak, not just for the Boardwalk, but the island as a whole.

In many ways, it was Ocean City, much the same way the Magic Kingdom is Disney World. It helped define the city’s nature.

The Ferris Wheel, which I’ll capitalize here because I can, is iconic. It’s not only part of the skyline, in many ways it is the skyline.

Hell, it’s our Emoji in every email for a reason. 🎡

The benefits Wonderland brought to the city far exceed its direct financial benefits to its owner, so the Mayor and city would be wise to keep that in mind in considering proposals for the site. You can’t just pave paradise and put up a parking lot if you want to keep the vibe.

They should ensure that the site continues to benefit the city overall and reinforce the city’s claim as “America’s Greatest Family Resort.” And, I would argue, that means, at a minimum, finding a way to keep the iconic Ferris Wheel.

2) There is no law of nature that says a kid-friendly amusement park is the only option that would benefit the city.

A hotel, shops, a good restaurant or two, or some combination of them, could all benefit the city and allow it to maintain its position as a family-friendly resort.

Let’s be honest, while quaint, most of the kiddie rides at Wonderland were outrageously dated, and weren’t moving the needle for anyone older than a toddler.

Interests change, technology advances, and a revived amusement park would have to do better than what was there.

What’s more, people complain about unsightly hotels and parking, but frankly I can’t think of an attraction that is more visually and audibly intrusive than AN AMUSEMENT PARK. By their very nature, they are big, loud, and bright. Oh, and I suspect they require more parking than, say, a hotel, with a finite number of rooms and guests.

So I think the arguments about sightlines and parking are unfair. It just so happens the intrusive sights and sounds of this particular amusement park were our sights and sounds. We just don’t like change.

I am personally not against a hotel, but it would have to benefit the community as a whole. It couldn’t just be an over-priced, 3.5-star affair with parking, pool, and amenities that serve only its guests.

I’d look to Congress Hall in Cape May for inspiration.

Sure, you’re not going to manufacture 200-year-old mystique, all the history, and probable ghosts that go with it using modern lumber and a branding agency.

But what you can do is take cues from how Congress Hall serves as a hub - an anchor, if you will - for Cape May’s shopping district.

Like Wonderland, Congress Hall sits, BIGLY, at one end— a must-see destination that offers fine dining, a shop, family-friendly entertainment, and yes, a spot to have a drink. It’s serene.

It wasn’t always this way.

From its Wikipedia page:

During the 20th century, the Cape May seafront deteriorated, with tourists heading to other shore resorts. In 1968, Congress Hall was purchased by the Rev. Carl McIntire and became part of his Cape May Bible Conference. McIntire's possession of the property preserved the hotel during a period in which many Victorian-era beachfront hotels were demolished for the value of their land.
With the decline of the Bible Conference, Congress Hall fell into a state of disrepair, with the hotel closing in 1992, though retail space in the building remained in use. The property was partially restored under the guidance of Curtis Bashaw, McIntire's grandson, a $22 million restoration began in 1995 and completed in 2002. Congress Hall is a resort hotel and part of the Cape Resorts family of hotels.
Congress Hall Wikipedia

Hmm. A historic landmark that fell into disrepair and, through investment and restoration, not only has thrived, but also has accentuated and built on its history.

Through that lens, a hotel, with restaurants, shops, and publicly-accessible family-friendly fare… like an old carousel, Ferris Wheel, and perhaps a little blue train, seems like it would work at 6th and the Boardwalk. I’m not gonna touch the drinking aspect, though— that’s for another email.

🌊 Flood of Concerns

Trenton is once again drawing the ire of local lawmakers, as Gov. Phil Murphy has issued an executive order related to climate change that could have a significant impact on Ocean City and other shore communities.

Here’s a rundown of what you need to know:

What happened: Murphy directed the Department of Environmental Protection to implement new flood elevation rules designed to protect the state’s coast from climate change and rising sea levels. The Resilient Environments and Landscapes regulations are also referred to by the acronym NJ PACT/REAL.

What that means in Ocean City: If the regulations take effect, “that could dramatically change building standards, construction costs, insurance costs, affordability of housing and much more,” according to the Oct. 18 Mayor’s Message.

Left out: State Assemblyman Antwan McClellan of Ocean City and State Sen. Michael Testa have accused Murphy of pulling an end-around on the state legislature via executive order and allowing the DEP to operate without any checks.

The big issue: Murphy’s proposed regulations call for construction in areas vulnerable to rising sea levels would need to be built five feet ABOVE existing federal flood elevation levels. Testa said Murphy’s projections are based on “a doomsday scenario” for climate change-related impacts and claimed the plan is based on a debunked study.

Both lawmakers are concerned the rules would make it too expensive for homeowners to elevate their homes and force people to move away from the shore. Testa also said he believes Murphy’s rules could violate federal access protections for people with disabilities.

Next steps: The regulations are currently in the public comment process through Nov. 3. Cape May County and its 16 municipalities have adopted resolutions to acknowledge climate change, but formally express their concerns and ask Murphy to pump the brakes. Business leaders have also spoken out. “These sweeping changes are moving forward without any vote or input from the state Legislature, and they would impact almost everybody in town in some way,” Mayor Gillian said.

Learn more: FOCUS, a local political action group which has supported the mayor and several members of City Council, is holding a free presentation on Murphy's executive order. It has been moved to the Ocean City Tabernacle due to the high demand. It is this Wednesday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.— you can find more information and register here.

🧠 Use Your Imagination

Ocean City has closed its acquisition of the entire city block from 16th to 17th Streets between Haven and Simpson Avenues, plus a section on the opposite side of 16th Street. And now the city wants public feedback on “how best to preserve this tract while providing for the enjoyment of the public” as part of a corridor stretching between 15th and 20th Streets.

Got an idea? Share it here!

🐶 Underdog Day Afternoon

Ocean City’s annual Howl-O-Ween Parade today will have a fitting grand marshal.

Philadelphia Eagles legend Vince Papale — the gritty special teams player who made the Birds through an open tryout in 1976 and was the subject of the film Invincible — will do the honors.

The parade features a procession of costumed dogs and owners as Man’s Best Friend gets a special dispensation to be on the boardwalk this weekend. It starts at 3 p.m. with day-off registration opening at 2 p.m. at the Ocean City Civic Center.

There will also be dog-specific vendors along the boardwalk on Saturday as well as photo-op stations — Santa Claus will also be in attendance — and the announcement of Ocean City’s “Pet of the Year.” All proceeds benefit the Humane Society of Ocean City. More details can be found here.

👮 Boardwalk Bureau

An architecture’s rendering of the substation.

Plans to build a new police substation on the Ocean City boardwalk are full steam ahead.

City Council voted to award a $6.1 million contract to Weatherby Construction & Renovation Corp. of Atlantic City on Thursday night.

A pre-construction meeting to set a timeline is expected in the coming days, and work is expected to begin this year and the substation should be done in 2025.

The substation will be built on what is currently a municipal parking lot. But OC Waterpark made a last-minute push to change that, advocating for a property swap with their adjacent Eighth Street parcel.

The park’s co-owners argued their land is 20% larger than the city’s property and would provide better access to the substation while the city land would give their business more parking space.

But Mayor Jay Gillian said the city parcel “fits perfect” and City Solicitor Dorothy McCrosson said it is preferable given its closer proximity to the boardwalk.

🎟️ Tickets and Discounts

Yes, Halloween is still a few days away. And yes, you can now get your tickets for this year’s Jolly Trolley Lights Tour.

There will be two tours of Ocean City’s lights this year on Dec. 17, plus a picture with Santa Claus and a Christmas craft. The event will run from 5-7 p.m. and 6-8 p.m., starting at the Ocean County Community Center. Tickets are $30 per person and can be found here. Quantities are limited.

🔗 News Links

🤳 Recommendations

As we mentioned last week, Walking The Boards is now part of a larger network of local websites and newsletters.

Here are some of our other newsletters (with more on the way). You can subscribe with one click.

For Philly sports fans (sent 5x per week):

On Pattison

For people who live in the Blue Bell, Ambler, and Whitpain areas:

Wiss Now

For people who live in Central Bucks:

Central Bucks Now

For people who live in the Lansdale, Montgomeryville, North Penn and Harleysville area:

North Penn Now

📊 Poll

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.

We Have Some Big News To Share

Kyle Scott — Sat, 19 Oct 2024 12:20:42 +0000

We are back.

After a long hiatus - which we will explain in this email - Walking The Boards has returned.

And boy oh boy do we have some news to share.

Short version: Walking The Boards is now part of the largest media company at the Jersey Shore, which also owns the leading news website in town, OCNJDaily.com.

More on that, Mayor Gillian blasting the state, and the closing of Wonderland.

Let’s get to it.

In the email today:

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🎡 Gillian Blasts State Over Wonderland Closing
📰 We Have Joined Forces With Leading Ocean City Outlet OCNJ Daily
🍻 Find Yourself a Man Who Loves You The Way Jay W …
🚮 Over The (Trash) Barrel
🛩️ Prepare For Takeoff
🗳️ Local Political Action Group Invites You To Fr …
🔗 News Links
🏈 Friday Night Lights
🤳 Recommendations
📊 Poll

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Saturday, October 19

🚘 Porsche Boardwalk Reunion | Ocean City Boardwalk | 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
🎭 SHOUT! The Mod Musical | Ocean City Music Pier | 7 p.m. on Saturday, 2 p.m. on Sunday— get tickets here

Sunday, October 20

🏃 John R. Elliott HERO Walk and 1-Mile Fun Run | Ocean City Boardwalk | Starts at 10 a.m., details here

Wednesday, October 23

🙋‍♂️Annual Welcome Night | Ocean City Sports & Civics Center | 6-7:30 p.m.

Thursday, October 24

🎃 76th Ocean City Halloween Parade | Line up at 6:30 p.m. at 6th and Asbury | Details here

See more local events right here.

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🎡 Gillian Blasts State Over Wonderland Closing

Wonderland Pier is officially closed. And Mayor Jay Gillian is pointing the finger at Trenton.

On Thursday, the mayor ripped into state regulators during an Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce legislative luncheon:

“One of the biggest issues we have in the amusement industry is this state is putting us out of business. They don't care. And I know that sounds horrible. And I hate talking about that or [Gov. Phil Murphy] or anybody because of the politics. But New Jersey is in a very serious position right now.”
Mayor Gillian

Wonderland, controlled by Gillian's family for nearly a century, had grappled with significant financial issues in recent years. An $8 million mortgage default in 2021 almost put it into a sheriff's auction before developer and investor Eustace Mita intervened to save it. Mita now controls the site.

Gillian previously cited Murphy's move to increase the state minimum wage as a factor in Wonderland's downfall.

He now says the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs also deserves blame due to its onerous oversight and red tape. Gillian claimed he once spent $100,000 to get an amusement ride up and running, only to have the state kibosh it.

"I did everything the professionals said. Structural engineer, all the paperwork. I took it up to the state of New Jersey and the engineer up there said, 'You know what, Jay, I need this done, you need to do this,'" Gillian said.

"He started telling me that my engineer didn't know what he was talking about and they knew better. That is scary."

Meanwhile, Mita has told city officials that he needs six months to study the Wonderland property before coming up with a redevelopment plan. In 2023, Mita proposed building a $150 million luxury boutique hotel on the site, but failed to win support for the project from Gillian and other elected officials.

And boy don’t you worry, we are going to cover the Wonderland site like it’s the Watergate Hotel … which, ironically, is what everyone speculates it might turn into.

📰 We Have Joined Forces With Leading Ocean City Outlet OCNJ Daily

Well, well, well.

The quick version: Walking The Boards is now part of Access Media, which also owns OCNJDaily.com, making us the largest media company in Ocean City, and likely at the whole Jersey Shore.

Other sites include: SeaIsleNews.com, SomersPoints.com, DownBeach.com, BreakingAC.com, the sports site OnPattison.com, and a bunch of other hyperlocal websites throughout Philly and South Jersey. Can you say media mogul? I can.

The background: Earlier this year, local media entrepreneur Jim McDonald acquired a number of hyperlocal news websites throughout the Philly area and rolled them all into a company called Access Media.

Through one of those acquisitions Access acquired OCNJ Daily and its sister sites in Sea Isle, Somers Point, Margate, and, through a separate deal, Atlantic City.

Jim and I (Kyle) met this summer and talked about partnering up on some ad deals since we owned arguably the two biggest media brands in town. Pretty informal stuff.

But it turns out, the opportunity was bigger than that.

Access’ weak point was email newsletters (our strength). They were also lacking a Philly sports brand (my strength).

We were lacking scale (their strength) — as our plan was always to create a version of Walking The Boards for every Shore town.

So, two became one.

We are now part owners of Access Media, and Access Media now has a stake in Walking The Boards.

Jim, who is CEO of Access, formerly served as the publisher of the Philly area Metro papers and launched the Washington Examiner prior to starting a media consulting business

I now work full-time for Access as its President, overseeing our sports brand and all email newsletter efforts (including Walking The Boards!).

Does this explain why we haven’t sent an email in 3 months?

Yes, it does.

Ironically, our weekly cadence was caught up in the muck of getting the deal done, and launching OnPattison.com, our sports site, prior to the start of the Eagles’ season and Red October (however short-lived it was).

But now that we have our ducks in a row, you can expect to receive Walking The Boards again every week, usually on Friday or Saturday.

Will our coverage be better?

You bet!

We often leveraged the quality reporting of Donald Wittkowski and the OCNJ Daily team to build our newsletter.

Now we have direct access to their resources, reporting, and additional manpower from Access. The awesome James Kratch, who is a seasoned newsletter writer and used to work for NJ.com, is also joining the team to help create and build Walking The Boards each week.

So what’s the big plan?

Our plan was always to create a Walking The Boards for every other Shore town, and build the largest media business at the Jersey Shore.

We are now better positioned to do that, thanks to the already-popular sites in our network, which reach upwards of 1 million people per month.

If you’d like more details on what we’re building, here is some recent coverage we’ve received:

Newspaper Entrepreneur Builds Jersey Shore News Empire (Axios)
Local News Operator Projects Quadrupling Revenue Over Next Two Years. No, Seriously (A Media Operator)
Crossing Broad Founder Launches New Philly Sports Website, and Access details (Philly Business Journal)
So I Started a New Site (On Pattison launch)

🍻 Find Yourself a Man Who Loves You The Way Jay Wright Loves Twisties

Twitter tweet

Let’s pour one out for Twisties.

Now that they’re closed, perhaps Jay will have some time on his hands and can return to coach Villanova (or, at this point, the Eagles).

🚮 Over The (Trash) Barrel

Ocean City has achieved garbage can reform, but it will be costly.

Property owners can use larger trash and recycling containers starting next month, and pickups are expected to be much quicker. But only after City Council held its nose and signed off on a hefty price hike.

Pineland Construction, Ocean City's solid waste hauler, will get an additional $660,000 through 2027 after the city moved to allow property owners to use 64-gallon containers starting Nov. 1.

That is an increase from the current 32-gallon limit, but still not codifying the 96-gallon drums many folks use (no load heavier than 50 pounds will be picked up, like some bizarro checked baggage clause).

Officials say the move should reduce the number of containers haulers have to clear— Pineland is also now required to pick up containers on private property moving forward after previously raising liability concerns.

City Council approved the changes in a 6-1 vote, but begrudgingly.

"Not having trash collection is worse than increased costs," Council President Pete Madden said after a rundown of the potential disruptions and upheaval a non-approval could cause, plus discussion on how Pineland has been vastly superior compared to past trash haulers.

Pineland will now get roughly $2 million a year -- coincidentally about how much a scrapped 2022 plan to buy every house a 96-gallon container would have cost. Alas.

🛩️ Prepare For Takeoff

Ocean City Municipal Airport is getting a new terminal building.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held this past Tuesday after Berger Realty owner Leon Grisbaum, a lifelong pilot, made a $3 million donation toward the project. The new building will be the Leon and Elizabeth Grisbaum Terminal Building, also in honor of his late wife. The current terminal will eventually be demolished.

Final designs are still a work in progress. But the new two-story terminal will include a new restaurant — the previous one closed during the pandemic — with views of the bay and marshland. Grisbaum hopes the new digs will help revive the airport, which has seen traffic slow since 2020.

Construction is tentatively expected to begin next year. The city is still working to secure an FAA grant in the seven figures to further fund the project. If that grant does not come through, some slight changes to the plans may occur.

🗳️ Local Political Action Group Invites You To Free Presentation on New Jersey Flood Regulation Requirements

FOCUS, a local political action group which has supported the mayor and several members of City Council, is holding a free presentation on an executive order from Phil Murphy that many say will have an impact on construction, insurance, and home costs.

We’ll have much more on these proposed regulations in the coming weeks.

You can RSVP to the event here.

🔗 News Links

🏈 Friday Night Lights

Ocean City and Holy Spirit played for the first time in over a decade … and it was worth the wait. The Red Raiders fought back from an early deficit to take a 13-9 lead, only to see the Spartans score a late touchdown for the come-from-behind 15-13 triumph.

Twitter tweet

🤳 Recommendations

As we mentioned before, Walking The Boards is now part of a larger network of websites and newsletters.

Here are some of our other newsletters (with more on the way). You can subscribe with one click.

For Philly sports fans (sent 5x per week):

On Pattison

For people who live in the Blue Bell, Ambler, and Whitpain areas:

Wiss Now

For people who live in Central Bucks:

Central Bucks Now

For people who live in the Lansdale, Montgomeryville, North Penn and Harleysville area:

North Penn Now

📊 Poll

There is much conjecture about what will happen to the Wonderland site. Many people posit that Eustace Mita will open a hotel, potentially with a restaurant.

This is not an exhaustive list of options, but we’d love to know how people feel. You can add additional commentary after you make your selection, and we will post some of the responses next week.

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.

Gillian's Wonderland Pier Is Closing

Kyle Scott — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 19:33:25 +0000

We have some big news this week, as Jay Gillian just announced that Wonderland Pier is closing later this year.

In an effort to be timely with this news, we will scrap some additional sections planned for the newsletter and include them next week.

In the email this week:

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🎡 BREAKING: Gillian’s Wonderland Pier Is Closing
🦅 Seagulls vs. Falcons, Round 2
🍫 Kilwins Chocolate Is Now Open
🔗 News Links
🗳️ Third Ward Council Race Challenge Is Over

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🎡 BREAKING: Gillian’s Wonderland Pier Is Closing

This letter was posted on Facebook, today, by the Mayor and Gillians owner Jay Gillian.

Here’s the text:

August 9, 2024
To Our Loyal Guests and Friends,
After 47 incredible years working on the Ocean City Boardwalk, I have little choice but to retire and close Gillian’s Wonderland Pier and 6th Street Pizza and Grill, embarking on a new chapter in my life. The memories I’ve made with my family and the joy of meeting so many wonderful team members and guests will always hold a special place in my heart.
The 94 years of tradition at Gillian’s amusements on the Boardwalk have been cherished by so many people, none more than me.
It’s been my life, my legacy, and my family. It’s sad to let go.
I started at just age 13, bringing Walt Tucker tools to fix the rides. Being the ring boy and working with my brother John was one of my best memories. I learned how to fix and operate the rides, and I was taught the business by my father and brothers. In a family business, you learn to become a jack-of-all-trades. I worked many long hours alongside my family, and I’ve been blessed to have that opportunity.
I have worked with so many talented people, too many to name, and in the end, I was able to work with our kids and see our 13 grandkids take their first rides. So many great family memories.
I tried my best to sustain Wonderland for as long as possible — through increasingly difficult challenges each year. But it’s no longer a viable business. We will terminate our multi-year lease in a couple of months. Wonderland and 6th Street Pizza will remain open through Indian Summer Weekend to give everybody plenty of time to use up their tickets.
The property itself is no longer mine, so I can’t speak to its future. But I’ll always have a lifetime of priceless memories, and I hope you will too. Thank you for all the amazing years and for being such an important part of our journey.
Warm regards,
Jay Gillian 
Gillian’s Wonderland Pier

This a real blow to Ocean City. I mean, the ferris wheel is our Emoji in every email we send. It’s a noted part of the Ocean City skyline. In many ways, it is the Ocean City skyline.

Wonderland, itself, is Ocean City. There’s basically no one alive who has seen Ocean City without it.

That said, this isn’t entirely surprising. Wonderland has reportedly had financial troubles, and in recent summers rides were often down. Lots of arcade machines and kiosks lined the entrance, presumably in an effort to maximize revenue.

In 2021, Gillian partnered with Eustace Mita (owner of Icona Resorts) to help rescue Wonderland after it was reportedly facing foreclosure following COVID shutdowns in 2020.

Mita and Gillian later faced backlash as Mita proposed building a hotel next to Wonderland. Residents accused the mayor of playing favorites, and the project was subsequently abandoned.

Most interesting is that Gillian mentioned that he will abandon his lease. 600 Boardwalk, where Wonderland sits, was purchased by 600 Boardwalk LLC, based in Chester, PA, in 2021.

There is no name associated with that business, but the sale for $10 million was completed around the time of the announcement of the partnership between Gillian and Mita, according to public records.

We will obviously aim to bring you much, much more about this, including plans for Wonderland after it closes.

A request for comment to the mayor was not immediately returned.

But this is, of course, very sad news for Ocean City.

🦅 Seagulls vs. Falcons, Round 2

Two city councilmen, Jody Levchuk and Keith Hartzell - the pseudo anti-establishment wing of council chambers (more on that in a bit) - are calling attention to an uptick in Boardwalk nuisance of the avian variety.

Per Donald Wittkowski of OCNJDaily.com:

City Council members discussed the growing nuisance, with some suggesting that the problem seems worse this year. Councilman Tony Polcini noted an uptick in complaints, and Mayor Jay Gillian promised to investigate further.
Ocean City has contracted East Coast Falcons for the sixth consecutive summer. The company's trained raptors, including falcons and hawks, are used to deter the gulls. Despite the program's success in previous years, there are concerns that the birds are becoming more resilient or "smarter."
The raptors now cover more ground than just the Boardwalk, including downtown business districts. This broader focus may be contributing to a perceived decrease in the effectiveness of the program on the Boardwalk.
Council members urged the public to report any seagull disturbances to help the city and East Coast Falcons respond promptly and effectively.

Perhaps we can ban the falcons from carrying backpacks?

Fun facts:

1) I was on the Wildwood Boardwalk a few weeks ago for my once-per-decade trek to the ‘Woods, and I can tell you that whatever problem anyone thinks we have here, it is NOTHING compared to the full-on air raid taking place to the south. Terrifying stuff.

2) The city pays East Coast Falcons nearly $320k to ward off seagulls, making the raptors in aggregate the highest paid city employee, by a wide margin, a fact I greatly enjoy.

3) Perhaps the most efficient animal spend by the city is the $1,251.17 paid to Geese Chasers South Jersey— a border collie who chases geese off public and commercial property. And he’s suuuuuch goooooooooowd boyyyy!

I don’t know about you, but I haven’t seen one goose on the island this summer. Dog is ELITE. The falcons should take note.

🍫 Kilwins Chocolate Is Now Open

Thank GOODNESS, Ocean City has its chocolate and candy store at long last!

Kidding.

Kilwins opened last week and is located at 736 Wesley.

🔗 News Links

A Point Pleasant man stole, and subsequently crashed, a plane— a reminder that you shouldn’t… checks notes…. steal planes ✈️
A nearby horse died from Eastern Equine Encephalitis after being bit by a mosquito 🦟
A missing puppy was returned from marshlands 🐕

🗳️ Third Ward Council Race Challenge Is Over

Ocean City is a small city. There are roughly 11k year-round residents and 9k registered voters— roughly 25% of them are receiving this very email. And City Council and Mayoral elections are usually won by hundreds or tens of votes.

In the case of the Third Ward, as you may have seen elsewhere, this year Jody Levchuk defeated his challenger Amy Vaules 402 votes to 400.

Two votes.

Needless to say, the vote was contested.

Over the previous few months, Vaules has accused Levchuk’s brother, who voted, of not being an Ocean City resident and, thus, ineligible to vote.

For his part, Levchuk has accused Vaules of having her primary residence in Florida, where she owns a home.

There’s more details about the back and forth here.

But last week Vaules withdrew her challenge:

Vaules announced July 22 that she would forgo a July 23 Superior Court date to try to overturn Levchuk’s 402-400 win in the ward elections. She said the two absentee ballots she needed were not going to be counted.
Part of her challenge also centered around contesting the residency of Levchuk’s brother, Randy, but that point became moot when she saw she couldn’t get the absentee ballots to even the vote tally at 402-402. If those ballots were counted in her favor and she successfully disqualified Randy Levchuk’s vote, Vaules could have won 402-401.
OC Sentinel

This followed some drama during a swearing in ceremony earlier this summer when Levchuk and Keith Hartzell, who challenged Mayor Jay Gillian unsuccessfully in 2022, voted against Pete Madden to be reinstated as council president (he still received enough votes to maintain his role).

Levchuk and Hartzell are the two members of council who have criticized the mayor and other council members with whom Gillian is closely aligned.

For now, though, looks like everyone is moving forward. Until the next election…

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.

Exclusive Details on Moorlyn Theatre

Kyle Scott — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 15:23:41 +0000

It’s Night in Venice weekend! The tributes to Jimmy Buffett begin tonight, with the Landsharks performing at the Music Pier. We have your full Night in Venice guide, along with an exclusive on the reopening of Moorlyn Theatre. Let’s get to it.

In the email today:

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🎥 Moorlyn Theatre To Reopen on the Boardwalk Next …
🚤 Night in Venice Details
🏖️ Ocean City Set For Record Summer
🔗 News Links
🍝 Inquirer Names Two Ocean City Restaurants as “E …
⚾️ We Need To Get Alec Bohm To Come To Ocean City
🍑 A Summertime Staple
📈 Previous Poll Results
📊 Poll
🌊 Tides

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

For the sake of time, and space, since there are so many events this week, we recommend you check out each of the following links for the onslaught of mid-summer events in Shore towns.

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🎥 Moorlyn Theatre To Reopen on the Boardwalk Next Week(!)

I spoke to Town Square Entertainment Principal Partner Clint Bunting this week. He told me that his company, which purchased the old Moorlyn Theatre on the Boardwalk a couple of years ago, will be reopening the theatre as early as next Thursday, July 25.

As we’ve outlined previously, crews have been working on the inside of the building this summer. The last hurdle has been the screens themselves— a speciality contractor will be in Moorlyn on Monday to get them hung and ready for the reopening.

So what can we expect out of the revamped Moorlyn?

4 individual theaters
laser projectors, Dolby Atmos sound
comfortable, slight-recline seating (though not the massive full-recline chairs Town Square uses in some of its other theaters, as those seats require more space than is available at the Boardwalk location)
all-new everything: coastal-inspired floors, walls, drapes, high-end tile, and a brand new roof to replace the original, which had accumulated 7 layers and still had leaks
sconces that were originally designed to be used in Disney in the halls

“Our belief is that if you make something really nice, people will treat it really nicely,” Bunting said.

Bunting says Moorlyn will remain open through about January 2 (to capture the busy holiday season) and then close until around Easter time next spring.

Like Town Square’s other theaters in Northfield, Stone Harbor, Rio Grande and Ventnor - which, I’ll add, are awesome - the vibe will be “retro high-style”, according to Bunting.

Our exclusive pictures, taken today just prior to sending this email, confirm it:

Bunting said the city has been wildly supportive of the project to bring back the iconic Boardwalk venue.

“The mayor and council have been awesome,” Bunting said. “They’ve been very, very supportive.”

Bunting and his two partners at Town Square, Brett DeNafo and Scot Kaufman, specifically wanted to call out two locals who were instrumental in getting it done: Council President and real estate agent Pete Madden, who helped with the property purchase commission-free, and real estate lawyer John Batastini.

In the fall, a new retro style marquee will be placed outside the theatre on the Boardwalk.

Bunting said things are still on track for a Thursday opening. You will be able to get showtimes and tickets on Town Square’s website right here.

🚤 Night in Venice Details

Night in Venice is tomorrow night. The theme will be a Summertime Vibes: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett.

Here are all the details:

Parade begins at 6:30 p.m.
Starts at Ocean City-Longport bridge and travels South to Tennessee Avenue, looping in and out of the lagoons
Grandstands will be set up at street ends on Battersea, North, 1st, 6th, 7th, 11th, 13th, 15th, 16th, and Tennessee
Parking with free shuttle service that will run starting at 4:00 p.m. is available at the Ocean City Municipal Airport (25th Street and Bay Avenue), Soccer Field at Tennessee Avenue (Off Shelter Road), and the Ocean City Community Center (1735 Simpson Avenue)
ESPN’s Marty Smith will be the grand marshal, and Eagles great Brandon Graham is considered a “special guest”

Here are full details from the city. And some details specifically for the Riviera neighborhood.

Tonight, Jimmy Buffett tribute band the Landsharks will perform at the Music Pier at 7:30 p.m. You can get tickets here.

🏖️ Ocean City Set For Record Summer

Don’t believe everything you read.

Inquirer Shore reporter Amy Rosenberg, who hates the Shore, wrote about the Shore rental market (oddly about a week after we did…) in a recent article.

See if you can spot the one key variable she left out in discussing market dynamics:

The cracks began to show last summer.
And the panic is setting in even earlier this season, with owners offering discounted weeks, incentives for last-minute bookings, and tossing out long-standing practices, like requiring renters to book Saturday to Saturday.
…
Keith D’Amore has owned a rental property in Ocean City, and said this was the first year he’s had two weeks open heading into prime summer season. Listing with Berger Realty, he said he’s discussed a new “30-day-out discount plan” where rental prices automatically drop when a week is open within the 30-day window.
“So if people can do a ‘standby,’ they can get a pretty good discount on a week’s rental,” D’Amore noted in an email. “It would be a good opportunity for some families that are getting priced out of a NJ vacation.”
Tara Cruser-Moss, a real estate agent at Berger, said, “We definitely have some openings.”
Berger’s page of discounted Shore weekly rental openings, currently at 97 properties, range from $1,600 for a two-bedroom on 39th Street (down from $1,800) to $10,000 for a four-bedroom fronting the boardwalk (down from $11,500). Both are in Ocean City.
Amy Rosenberg, who hates the Shore, and possibly Ocean City

You can’t talk about demand without talking about supply.

As we told you, there is more availability and last-minute discounts. But there’s also more inventory.

One Berger agent I spoke to estimates total properties listed through the agency, Ocean City’s leading rental brokerage, are up as much as 20%, but that total weeks rented would end up roughly on par or even up slightly from last year.

And to further back the claim of steady Shore demand, Maddie Vitale of OCNJDaily.com reports on beach tag sales so far this summer:

“The beach tags and parking operations are both off to good starts this summer. The town has been very busy so far, and the weather has been great,” Frank Donato, Ocean City’s chief financial officer, told OCNJDaily.com.
Donato said that as of the end of May, beach tags sales, “were almost a mirror image of 2023 at about $3.1 million.”
…
“As you know, the end of May is the end of the seasonal discount period, which is always a good benchmark,” he explained. “From that point forward, though, the activity has been record-setting.”
…
“June finished $390,000 higher than last June,” he said. “Fourth of July week was about a $58,000 increase over the same week in 2023.”
OCNJ Daily

Now, you may be wondering about sales vs. prices.

Beach tag prices increased before last summer. That increase did offset a 7% decline in YoY sales as of around this time last year (the 2023 season ended down only 4% in total tags sold). But the revenue lift this year over 2023 is indicative of an increase in sales volume since prices have remained the same from last year.

Ironically, the mid-summer beach tag sales numbers reported last year came on the heels of another fear-mongering article about a downturn in Shore rentals.

So what’s happening? Well, the pandemic bubble is over. More owners are listing their places for rent - there are various theories as to why, from needing the income to owners wanting to travel more - and so owners who were used to filling all weeks at elevated prices are bit perturbed that it’s not as easy as it was a few years ago.

That’s understandable, but it hardly spells doom and gloom for the Shore. We’re still at or near all-time highs in America’s Greatest Family Resort.

🔗 News Links

Teen who collapsed on Boardwalk returns to thank firefighters who saved his life 🚑
Ocean City named New Jersey’s favorite beach for 11th year in a row by New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium poll 🏆
Lucy The Elephant will announce she is running for President at the age of 143 on Saturday— this will make her the third-oldest candidate running for president as of writing this 🐘

🍝 Inquirer Names Two Ocean City Restaurants as “Essential” in Shore Dining Guide

Inquirer food critic Craig LaBan, who doesn’t hate the Shore, included two Ocean City restaurants in his “Essential Shore Dining Guide”:

Bakeria 1010 (955 Asbury Ave.)
Kizbee’s Kitchen (611 E. 8th St.)

He praised Bakeria for having some of the best Detroit-style pizzas in the region, and Kizbee’s for being one of the best gluten-free bakeries in the region.

We plan on reviewing Bakeria, but when I called on Saturday for a pie they were out of their trademark square crust by 6:00 p.m…. so, that’ll have to wait. One of our co-owners had their cheesesteak this week though:

He said: “Well seasoned meat, loads of cheese. Meat chopped up which I prefer. Meat-to-bread ratio very good. Roll not too doughy or thick, which I prefer. Only criticism is roll was a little soft. By Shore standards it was a very good cheesesteak. Easily in top 3 on island.”

We’ll report back on the square pizza.

Read LaBan’s full guide here (may be behind a paywall).

⚾️ We Need To Get Alec Bohm To Come To Ocean City

Spotted, Alec Bohm in Wildwood with a Fred’s Tavern shirt:

Twitter tweet

Uncle Bill’s patron Cole Hamels needs to talk some sense into him.

🍑 A Summertime Staple

The peach sundaes are in-season at Kessel’s! Got this one last night— perfect.

📈 Previous Poll Results

In our last newsletter, we asked who was in favor a proposed new mini golf course (in addition to the other new mini golf course) on 34th Street:

A sampling of responses:

“Would much rather see restaurants/deli/pizza or sandwich shops going in for more walkable dining options. Shopping would also be nice. No need for another mini golf course in the area”

“Parking! Location is dangerous with Wawa, CVS, Acme and lots of traffic both ways, especially at dusk with sunset vision obstruction. People will try to park at the Acme lot and run across a very busy road. I miss the mini golf next to the 46th St. firehouse…walkable for a great portion of south end vacationers and residents.”

“More entertainment for guests of OC the better.”

My take: People are sensitive to congestion, especially in an already congested part of the island. But other Shore towns (and 9th Street…) have major attractions on their main thoroughfares into town. Wildwood, Sea Isle, Stone Harbor— all feature heavy commercial zones as you enter.

Now, maybe you can argue you don’t want Ocean City to be like Sea Isle and Wildwood (fair!), but I’d argue that their feature businesses and attractions just over the bridge don’t detract from the town. And mini golf is, of course, hardly an offensive attraction. That the random backhoe that has been parked just off the bridge all summer and the collapsing Seaspray are much worse than a family-fun golf course.

But maybe, just maybe, let’s get a good restaurant or two in the other empty commercial areas of 34th Street to bring balance to the force. All those golfers need to eat, after all.

📊 Poll

🌊 Tides

July 19, 2024

• Low Tide: 1:16 AM

• High Tide: 7:16 AM

• Low Tide: 1:10 PM

• High Tide: 7:38 PM

July 20, 2024

• Low Tide: 2:08 AM

• High Tide: 8:05 AM

• Low Tide: 2:04 PM

• High Tide: 8:25 PM

July 21, 2024

• Low Tide: 2:57 AM

• High Tide: 8:52 AM

• Low Tide: 2:57 PM

• High Tide: 9:10 PM

July 22, 2024

• Low Tide: 3:44 AM

• High Tide: 9:39 AM

• Low Tide: 3:48 PM

• High Tide: 9:57 PM

July 23, 2024

• Low Tide: 4:29 AM

• High Tide: 10:28 AM

• Low Tide: 4:38 PM

• High Tide: 10:46 PM

July 24, 2024

• Low Tide: 5:13 AM

• High Tide: 11:19 AM

• Low Tide: 5:28 PM

• High Tide: 11:38 PM

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.

Your Ocean City Fourth of July Weekend Guide

Kyle Scott — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 23:00:59 +0000

It’s Fourth of July week(end)! Weather looks decent-ish. We have tons of updates today, including holiday events, fireworks, construction updates on some notable attractions, the coolest caps on the Boardwalk, and more.

But first, I’d like to bring you this very important update on my younger Little Squirt, who is now a two-time defending Ocean City eating champion, winning the under 5 division at the Wacky Wednesday pie eating contest today:

In the email today:

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🚜 Construction Updates
🧢 The Coolest Hats on the Boards
🏊‍♂️ Aquatic Center Pool Improvements Coming
🔗 News Links
🏠 Real Estate Update
🤵‍♂️ Joe Conklin Returns July 13 with a Special G …
🇮🇹 Patroni’s Is Now Open
🛟 List of Guarded Beaches
📈 Previous Poll Results
🌊 Tides

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Wednesday, July 3

🎻 Ocean City POPS Free Outdoor Concert | Carey Stadium (6th and the Boardwalk) | 8:00 p.m., more details here
🎥 Movies Under The Stars: Wish (Sea Isle) | Excursion Park | Details and times here

🇺🇸 Thursday, July 4

🚴‍♂️ Bike Parades
- Gardens: Longport Bridge to East Atlantic Blvd. 210 Gardens Parkway, Ocean City. Bike Parade Sponsored by the Gardens Civic Association. Registration 9 a.m. at the Longport Bridge parking lot. Parade begins at 10 a.m.
- South End: Bike Parade Sponsored by the South OC Improvement Assoc, City of Ocean City and the Chamber of Commerce. Registration 9 a.m. at 40th & Asbury Ave. Parade begins at 10 a.m.
- Riviera: Bike Parade Sponsored by the Riviera Neighborhood. Registration at 11 a.m. at the Rosemar Lane Park. Parade begins at Noon.
🏃‍♀️ Junior Olympics (Sea Isle) | Dealy Field (6108 Central Ave.) | Free for boys and girls ages 3 to 12, registration starts at 9:30 a.m., details here
🎻 Ocean City POPS Free Outdoor Concert | Carey Stadium (6th and the Boardwalk) | 8:00 p.m., more details here
🎶 Somers Points Beach Concert (Somers Point) | John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band | Details and times here
🪁 Kite Flying Competition | Beach next to Music Pier | 7:00 p.m.
🎆 Fireworks
- Ocean City: 6th Street on the Beach, 9:00 p.m.
- Margate: Huntington Avenue Beach, 9:00 p.m.
- Sea Isle: 50th Street Beach, 9:15 p.m.
- Avalon: 30th Street Beach, 8:55 p.m.
- Wildwood: Boardwalk, 10:00 p.m.

Friday, July 5

🍿 Thrilling Thursdays (Margate) | Details here — FRIDAY this week
- 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: Steve and Cookie’s Farmers Market
- 7:00 p.m.: Outdoor movie
🎶 Somers Point Beach Concert (Somers Point) | Waylon Thibodeaux and Ben Levin | Details and times here

Saturday, July 6

🔈 Concert Under the Stars: Jesse Garron - Elvis Tribute (Sea Isle) | Excursion Park | Details and times here

Sunday, July 7

🎶 Ocean City POPS Present Greatest Hits | Music Pier | 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. | Details and tickets here

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🚜 Construction Updates

Over the past few months, we’ve told you about a bunch of new major attractions coming to Ocean City.

Time for updates.

Thunder Falls Adventure Golf (34th and Simpson)

From Mark Benevento, the man behind Congo Falls, comes the ever-meandering proposal for this mini golf course set to welcome patrons as they come over the 34th Street bridge.

Sitting just past the random backhoe that’s been parked at that corner all summer and the red-tagged Seaspray Condominium is the beautiful… old shuttered bank that’s just waiting to be demolished and turned into this bad boy, complete with a 29-foot high waterfall:

Images from submitted application to the city

Plans and variances were approved in December, and Boardwalk Development Company LLC (Benevento’s company) was supposed to submit a Minor Subdivision Application (to split the lot in two) by July 25. But a recent filing for a planning board meeting next week asks to extend the deadline until April 25, 2025.

Boardwalk Development Company cited their waiting on easement approvals from Cape May County and Ocean City’s demolition restriction in the summer months as reasons for the delay.

You’ve likely seen by now the other new golf course on 34th Street, Sandcastle Putt Club (34th and Asbury), which has consistently been crowded. SPC comes from the O’Hara family, which also owns Uncle Bill’s, Aunt Betty’s, and Nauti Donuts.

Nearby residents were initially concerned about increased congestion, but the new course appears to fit into the rapidly-changing area beautifully. I mean, it looks GREAT (haven’t played there yet, but plan on it).

Thunder Falls, though, based on filings and having seen the GIANT GORILLA at Congo Falls, may be a bit more in-your-face… and so it’ll be interesting to see what nearby residents have to say once construction begins.

My idea? Someone should buy the Seaspray next door and turn it into a haunted house. If it collapses, you become one with the attraction. A real family fun area it will be.

Let’s take a quick poll— you can leave more detailed comments after you select your answer if you’d like:

Moorlyn Theatre

Promised you a better update last week, but multiple requests for comment from the owner, Town Square Entertainment, which also owns theaters in Stone Harbor, Rio Grande, Northfield and Ventnor, weren’t returned… soooo I Walked The Boards and took a few pictures of ongoing construction:

Today, painters and other assorted contractors were inside. Based on my observation and the picture of other inside work last week, it seems like things are coming along. But from the looks of it I wouldn’t expect a summer reopening.

Playland’s Castaway Cove

The park has long been reopened after the fire, but the main entrance arcade and new proposed coaster are still not open.

The coaster is a long ways off, but the arcade, which we last heard from VP Brian Hartley was waiting on electrical contractors, is… coming along. And good news: it appears they found an electrician!

The target was an August reopening, but based on the photos that seems… ambitious.

The area at the top which could eventually be home to a family-friendly coaster may require years of development and planning.

The Yard

A couple of weeks ago we told you about TJ Heist’s (owner of OCNJ Watersports) proposal for The Yard, a family recreational facility coming to 741 West Ave.

The proposal was indeed approved.

Per TJ: “We are fully approved and anticipate breaking ground this fall on the project.“

🧢 The Coolest Hats on the Boards

This is not an ad. All Campus (10th and Boardwalk) has not just the coolest hats, but maybe the coolest items, I’ve seen on the Boardwalk.

They are currently selling custom hat collaborations with the Phillies, 47 Brand, and famous OC businesses.

These custom, limited edition hats pay homage to Prep’s, Steel’s Fudge, Surf Mall, Jilly’s Arcade, Del’s, and Lumber Yard.

These are sure to go quick. I’m told collabs featuring Manco’s and Johnson’s Popcorn sold out in about two weeks last summer.

If I didn’t have a GOOFY shaped head, I’d buy the heck out of the Prep’s hat.

If you are not a hat person, I recommend forwarding this to the person in your life who is, because if they like the Phillies and Ocean City, these are basically a must-have.

If you stop in, tell them Walking The Boards sent you. Want to see what kind of power the ol’ newsletter has.

🏊‍♂️ Aquatic Center Pool Improvements Coming

City Council approved a resolution to put get bids for work to renovate the very old aquatic center pool.

Details:

The city estimates renovations will cost about $2.5 million
Work is expected to begin on or around August 1 and take 4-6 weeks to complete, with a target of September 15
Improvements include replacement of the pools' failing main drain, decking repair, surface drainage improvements, and repairs to the pool walls
The timing is intentional to minimize disruption to the competitive swimming season
Aquatic center members will be given the option to freeze their account during construction

Per Mayor Gillian in his weekly update:

“The pool is 46 years old now, and the drain beneath it is failing. This repair has been on our radar for many years now, and it’s reached a point where it must be completed. Because we have to close and drain the pool, we’re going to take the opportunity to complete all necessary repairs at the same time. We expect it to be closed for four to six weeks starting as soon as early August. Members will have the opportunity to freeze their memberships.”
Mayor Gillian

🔗 News Links

🏠 Real Estate Update

If you missed it last week, you can read our May market update right here.

If you are interested in more Ocean City real estate coverage, subscribe to our free real estate newsletter here:

Shore Cribs

Everything you need to know about real estate in Ocean City, NJ. Join over 1,500 second-home owners, agents, residents, investors, and renters who subscribe to our newsletter for free.

🤵‍♂️ Joe Conklin Returns July 13 with a Special Guest

Joe Conklin is returning to the Music Pier on Saturday, July 13. He’ll perform his highly acclaimed stage show with the City Rhythm Orchestra for a “night of comedy and music.”

We’re hearing that Flyers great Bernie Parent will be in attendance.

The show is at 7:30 p.m. You can get tickets here.

🇮🇹 Patroni’s Is Now Open

The Italian takeout spot in the former home of Voltaco’s is now open. Patroni’s (957 West Ave.) opened on Monday, and you can see their menu here.

Haven’t tried it yet. We’ll have a full review in the coming weeks.

🛟 List of Guarded Beaches

Before we get to it, 9 people were rescued in Ocean City last Saturday morning, before guards were officially on duty. Please don’t be stupid— swim where there is a lifeguard, when they are on duty. Rip currents are very real.

With that in mind:

The Ocean City Beach Patrol guards beaches from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekends and holidays, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

From Thursday, June 27, 2024 until further notice, the following beaches will be guarded:

Seaspray
Surf Road
Atlantic
North Street
Stenton
St. Charles Place
Pennlyn
Park Place
Brighton Place
Surfing Beach
8th Street (open until 7:30 p.m.)
9th Street (open until 7:30 p.m.)
10th Street
11th Street
12th Street (open until 7:30 p.m.)
13th Street
14th Street
15th Street
17th Street
18th Street
20th Street
22nd Street
24th Street
26th Street
28th Street
30th Street
32nd Street
34th Street (open until 7:30 p.m.)
36th Street
39th Street
42nd Street
44th Street
46th Street
48th Street
50th Street
53rd Street
55th Street
58th Street

Guarded beaches may close unexpectedly for various reasons. Please swim only in front of an OCBP lifeguard stand staffed by OCBP lifeguards.

Remember:

📈 Previous Poll Results

Few interesting nuggets.

Last week, we asked you what you thought of Margate’s plan to fine parents of unruly teens. A full 97.86% of voters thought Ocean City should adopt this policy:

Just a sampling of the many responses:

“Parents should definitely be held accountable for their children up to age 18”

“It’s upsetting when friends and family call me and ask what in the world is going on in ocean city. Teens and parents need to be held accountable.”

“It’s ridiculous what’s going on in the shore towns these days. Not even renting there this year. I’m not paying thousands of dollars for a vacation that will be ruined by a town that doesn’t handle they’re youth properly”

Obviously, this is pretty popular.

But well-placed sources indicate to us that while Ocean City may want to do this, it probably isn’t legally enforceable, perhaps explaining why it hasn’t yet happened and likely won’t happen.

It’s possible this is more of a public relations thing for Margate, with a side of psy-ops. They look good and may compel enough parents to pay attention to what their kids are doing, even if it may be hard for the town to enforce these fines.

On a lighter note, when asked which beverage in my summer beer fridge you like the most, Surfside was a clear winner (I agree!), getting 30% of the overall vote:

🌊 Tides

July 4, 2024

• Low Tide: 1:32 AM

• High Tide: 7:20 AM

• Low Tide: 1:16 PM

• High Tide: 7:42 PM

July 5, 2024

• Low Tide: 2:23 AM

• High Tide: 8:11 AM

• Low Tide: 2:06 PM

• High Tide: 8:29 PM

July 6, 2024

• Low Tide: 3:10 AM

• High Tide: 8:59 AM

• Low Tide: 2:54 PM

• High Tide: 9:13 PM

July 7, 2024

• Low Tide: 3:55 AM

• High Tide: 9:44 AM

• Low Tide: 3:39 PM

• High Tide: 9:55 PM

If you enjoy Walking The Boards, please share it with a friend! Just tell them to go to “WalkingTheBoards.com” to subscribe. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Thanks! Enjoy the (holiday) weekend.

What Is Going on with the Rental Market?

Kyle Scott — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 13:55:37 +0000

Our newsletter schedule is changed around a bit due to the holiday next week.

Today we’ll feature official FOURTH OF JULY WEEK EVENTS in Ocean City and across the Jersey Shore (including bike parade and fireworks times), and an Ocean City real estate market update.

We’ll be back with our normal news-based format on Wednesday, July 3.

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🏠 Real Estate Update
📊 Poll

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Friday, June 28

🎶 Somers Point Beach Concert (Somers Point) | The Dane Anthony Band | Details and times here

Saturday, June 29

⛱️ Beachstock: The Planet’s Biggest Beach Party (Margate) | Granville Ave. Beach | Home run derby, free activities, food and more, details here
🔈 Concert Under the Stars: Streetlife Serenade - Billy Joel Tribute (Sea Isle) | Excursion Park | Details and times here

Sunday, June 30

🍑 Stone Harbor Farmers Market (Stone Harbor) | Water Tower Lot | 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
🎻 Bernadette Peters Performing with the Ocean City POPS | Music Pier | Details here (SOLD OUT)

Monday, July 1

👩‍🎤 Killer Queen - A Tribute to Queen | Music Peter | Details and very limited tickets here

Tuesday, July 2

🍋 West Cape May Farmers Market (West Cape May) | Backyard Park 732 Broadway, West Cape May | Details here
😸 Garfield: The Musical | Music Pier | Details and tickets here

Wednesday, July 3

🍓 Farmers Market | Tabernacle Grounds | 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
🥧 Wacky Wednesday: Pie Eating Contest | Music Pier | 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
- Wacky Wednesday kicks off in Ocean City with the annual pie eating contest. Little Squirt will be there to defend his crown. Free to enter. Limited to 150 participants.

Little Squirt, dominating

🎻 Ocean City POPS Free Outdoor Concert | Carey Stadium (6th and the Boardwalk) | 8:00 p.m., more details here
🎥 Movies Under The Stars: Wish (Sea Isle) | Excursion Park | Details and times here

🇺🇸 Thursday, July 4

🚴‍♂️ Bike Parades
- Gardens: Longport Bridge to East Atlantic Blvd. 210 Gardens Parkway, Ocean City. Bike Parade Sponsored by the Gardens Civic Association. Registration 9 a.m. at the Longport Bridge parking lot. Parade begins at 10 a.m.
- South End: Bike Parade Sponsored by the South OC Improvement Assoc, City of Ocean City and the Chamber of Commerce. Registration 9 a.m. at 40th & Asbury Ave. Parade begins at 10 a.m.
- Riviera: Bike Parade Sponsored by the Riviera Neighborhood. Registration at 11 a.m. at the Rosemar Lane Park. Parade begins at Noon.
🏃‍♀️ Junior Olympics (Sea Isle) | Dealy Field (6108 Central Ave.) | Free for boys and girls ages 3 to 12, registration starts at 9:30 a.m., details here
🎻 Ocean City POPS Free Outdoor Concert | Carey Stadium (6th and the Boardwalk) | 8:00 p.m., more details here
🎶 Somers Points Beach Concert (Somers Point) | John Cafferty and The Beaver Brown Band | Details and times here
🪁 Kite Flying Competition | Beach next to Music Pier | 7:00 p.m.
🎆 Fireworks
- Ocean City: 6th Street on the Beach, 9:00 p.m.
- Margate: Huntington Avenue Beach, 9:00 p.m.
- Sea Isle: 50th Street Beach, 9:15 p.m.
- Avalon: 30th Street Beach, 8:55 p.m.
- Wildwood: Boardwalk, 10:00 p.m.

Friday, July 5

🍿 Thrilling Thursdays (Margate) | Details here — FRIDAY this week
- 8:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: Steve and Cookie’s Farmers Market
- 7:00 p.m.: Outdoor movie
🎶 Somers Point Beach Concert (Somers Point) | Waylon Thibodeaux and Ben Levin | Details and times here

Saturday, July 6

🔈 Concert Under the Stars: Jesse Garron - Elvis Tribute (Sea Isle) | Excursion Park | Details and times here

Sunday, July 7

🎶 Ocean City POPS Present Greatest Hits | Music Pier | 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. | Details and tickets here

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

If you know of any additional events for Fourth of July weekend or have an event you’d like to include next week, email mike@shorecribs.com.

🏠 Real Estate Update

What’s Going on with the Rental Market?

I’ve heard plenty of stories from owners in Ocean City who have been unable to rent their properties as quickly as they have the past few years.

And unlike sales data (next section), rental data is less public, a bit more proprietary, and harder to come across.

So I asked Colin Halliday and Kevin Laskowski of the 17th Street Berger office. They’ve been at this for more than 30 years combined, and Berger is the leading rental agency on the island.

They say rentals are on pace with last year, and perhaps even up slightly.

What’s changed, however, is the number of units available.

“The rental market is good. We should hit the same amount of rentals in volume as last year which was another record year. The difference this year in my opinion is that more people have decided to rent their homes giving more inventory throwing off supply and demand a bit.”
Colin Halliday, Berger Realty

Berger is on pace for about 14,000 rental contracts this year, which is roughly the same pace as last year and a pretty incredible number. But they still have weeks available for rent, which wasn’t the case at this point the last few years.

That’s because of the noticeable uptick in the number of rental units available.

“If you are within 2 weeks of preferred vacation week, owners are more likely to negotiate. So since more is available, negotiated or discounts are coming from owners.”
Kevin Laskowski, Berger Realty

In short, same demand, more supply.

The post-Covid demand for Shore houses is well-documented. The economy skyrocketed, interest rates went down, inflation ripped (perhaps giving owners a skewed sense of their appreciation), and people reduced their plane travel.

As I’ve argued before, the Shore was, and is, the perfect beneficiary of a post-Covid world. More people work from home, or work a hybrid schedule, and the Shore, unlike pandemic boom towns in the midwest and west, is a short drive from one (or even 2 or 3) major cities, meaning residents and second home owners can easily spend all or most of their time at the beach but still get to an office if they need to.

Some of that is coming undone. The Shore’s position as a post-Covid beneficiary hasn’t changed, but interest rates are up, the economy is less certain, and people are flying more. A lot more.

And so perhaps you have some owners who want to travel and spend less time at the Shore, or need to rent their properties to offset costs. All the while rental demand has flattened (albeit at record high levels).

Anecdotally, Halliday said his small rental property was fetching $6,000 some weeks over the last few years. But he currently has one week remaining which he has dropped to $4,500.

“Owners have to be smart and read the market for 2025. The days of asking whatever you want may not be around anymore. You have to do your homework and work closely with an agent!”
Colin Halliday

May Market Report

With all of that context in mind, let’s take a look median sales prices and sales volume, the latter of which remains stubbornly low for May.

The median sale price in May came in at $904,375, which is down 8% YoY, and roughly on par with 2022.

Single-family home prices led the way with a 34% YoY increase at $2,170,000, but that was on extremely low sales volume of only 6 SF home sales in May (compared to 20 last year), 4 of which were for larger 5+ bedroom homes, skewing the median price.

Condo prices continue to be relatively flat over the last two years in May.

Median sales prices on condos were $867,500, which is up 2% YoY, but that doesn’t offset annual inflation, which was over 3% in May.

How can overall median sales price be down when SF and condo prices are up? Because so few single-family homes are selling compared to previous years, so "cheaper” condos make up a larger share of sales.

There remains historically low sales volume. And condo prices, which increasingly drive the overall market, are mostly flat.

So when will things change? I asked Halliday for his thoughts:

“So few people want to sell because they don’t want to leave OC and bought in with an average rate of 3.2%, and they don’t want to sell because if they buy something larger or downsize they’re looking at roughly a little over 7% on their rate. I think it’s going to take time for people to realize that 3% interest rate won’t be back any time soon, if ever… I’m guessing that once rates get into the 5’s we will see a lot of inventory hit the market.
Colin Halliday, Berger Realty

And then it will be the classic battle of supply vs. demand. Will a flood of supply hit the market, putting downward pressure on prices? Or will a decrease in interest rates send a surge of demand to offset increased listings?

We will cover it all in our dedicated real estate newsletter, Shore Cribs. You can subscribe for free here:

Shore Cribs

Everything you need to know about real estate in Ocean City, NJ. Join over 1,500 second-home owners, agents, residents, investors, and renters who subscribe to our newsletter for free.

📊 Poll

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.

Summer Has Arrived in Ocean City

Kyle Scott — Mon, 24 Jun 2024 16:57:28 +0000

can you guess where this delicious pancake is from? answer at the bottom

Summer has officially arrived in Ocean City. We have plenty to get to today.

In the email today:

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🎥 What’s Going on with the Moorlyn Theatre?
👮‍♂️ Margate Will Fine Parents of Misbehaving Tee …
🦈 Tickets for Jimmy Buffett Tribute Band Now Avai …
🔗 News Links
🏈 Brandon Graham Coming to Night in Venice
🔥 HOT RESTAURANT TAKE: Tomatoe’s Is Better Than S …
📰 OCNJ Daily Sale Looking Like It Will Go Through
🍺 The Official Summer Shore Beer Fridge
🛟 List of Guarded Beaches

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Our full Fourth of July week events guide will come out later this week.

Monday, June 24

💃🏼 Let’s Sing Taylor: A Live Band Experience Celebrating Taylor Swift | Music Pier | Details and tickets here

Tuesday, June 25

🎷 Kenny G | Music Pier | Details and tickets here
🍋 West Cape May Farmers Market (West Cape May) | Backyard Park 732 Broadway, West Cape May | Details here

Wednesday, June 16

🍓 Farmers Market | Tabernacle Grounds | 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Wednesday, June 26 - Thursday, June 27

🍻 Jason Kelce and Eagles Autism Sea Isle Takeover (Sea Isle) | OD and other spots throughout Sea Isle | Full details here

Friday, June 28

🎶 Somers Point Beach Concert (Somers Point) | The Dane Anthony Band | Details and times here
🍫 Cape May Coffee and Chocolate Festival (Cape May) | Cape May Convention Hall | Details here

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

⭐️ Last Minute Rental Deals

We’re told summer rental numbers are still high, but more so than previous years, last-minute rentals remain available, meaning negotiation and price drops for renters.

Here are two opportunities:

1413 Ocean Ave (1st Floor) | 6 🛏️ 5.5 🛁

Beautiful Clark! This incredible beachfront rental has just been discounted and has prime weeks available. This brand new, ultra luxurious condo can accommodate up to 19 people.

For those who don’t need all the space, try:

3000 Asbury Ave (1st Floor) | 4 🛏️ 2 🛁

This perfectly-located South End condo has mid-August weeks still available.

Want to get in either of these places or another last-minute rental? Contact THE last-minute rental agent in Ocean City, Kevin Laskowski.

Full contact details:

Kevin Laskowski
Berger Realty

1670 Boardwalk
Ocean City, NJ, 08226
Email: kml@bergerrealty.com
Phone: 888-579-0095x312
Cell: 267-432-1248

If you are a homeowner or an agent and want to show off your available sale or rental in this space, just reply to this email and I’ll get right back to you. We reach more verified Ocean City residents, second home owners, and vacationers on a weekly basis than any other publication in Ocean City.

🎥 What’s Going on with the Moorlyn Theatre?

Last year we told you about the planned refurbishment of the famed Moorlyn Theatre.

It was purchased by Town Square Entertainment, which owns and operates beautiful theaters in Stone Harbor, Ventnor, Rio Grande, and Northfield (actually saw Inside Out 2 in Stone Harbor yesterday).

Their plan was to be open by last Thanksgiving, but that clearly didn’t happen, and the theatre still isn’t open.

Work is continuing on the theatre though. In March, their Facebook page included this photo:

And I was also able to find this photo on the Facebook page for what looks to be their ceiling contractor, Diversified Ceilings, which was posted last week:

So, things are happening. I reached out to Town Square’s owners for an update on several platforms and have yet to hear back. But here’s what usually happens when I post an update like this— someone sees the newsletter and reaches out directly… so that’s the goal here. Will try to get you a more concrete update for next week.

👮‍♂️ Margate Will Fine Parents of Misbehaving Teens

Ocean City has, understandably, received plenty of attention for Boardwalk incidents and the city’s subsequent response to deal with throngs of unruly teens.

Perhaps it’s because Ocean City IS America’s Greatest Family resort and the best-known Shore town that we receive so much attention. Or perhaps it’s the city’s roots as a family-friendly destination that make large beachside gatherings, fights and stabbings so dichotomous with the image.

But Ocean City is far from the only Shore town dealing with these issues, with many mayors and municipalities attributing the disruptions to a state law preventing officers from properly enforcing pesky little things like public underage drinking and drug use.

Count Margate as the latest city to place their bets on the roulette wheel of law enforcement wack-a-mole. Their wager? Ticketing parents of bad teens.

Per The Patch:

Police said they will be enforcing the "parental responsibility" ordinance during curfew hours for those under 17, between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., "any time when officers observe a juvenile unsupervised and engaging in any behavior that is unlawful, puts their safety at risk, or if they ignore lawful commands from officers attempting to keep them safe."
The child in question will be taken to the police station and their parent/guardian will be called to pick them up. And said guardian could be ticketed if they knowingly let the child be unsupervised, according to the law.
If necessary, the child could be criminally charged. Fines range from $100 to $1,000 - and if the parent is ticketed too, both of them could end up performing community service together.
The Patch

I see your backpack ban. Let me raise you a parental fine.

Anyway, I’m sure pontificators from across South Jersey and the Philly area will scrutinize Margate’s attempt to circumvent state law enforcement restrictions with the same vigor as they do Ocean City.

They should probably just hire Kylie Kelce to keep everyone in line.

In Ocean City, a proposal for a Boardwalk mask ban brought by councilman Jody Levchuk, whose family runs JiLLy’s which I can never appropriately punctuate, was quickly dismissed after discussion with Police Chief Campbell. Officers felt a mask ban would have been a knee-jerk and largely useless response to Memorial Day weekend incidents and some teens who may have covered their faces.

In Wildwood, Surfside Pier was briefly evacuated after a man pulled a gun on Saturday night.

🦈 Tickets for Jimmy Buffett Tribute Band Now Available

As you likely know by now, the Night in Venice theme for 2024 will be Summertime Vibes: A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett.

Count me all-in— parrots and fins and lays. All of it.

Anyway, to get you in the spirit, the Landsharks, a Jimmy Buffett tribute band, will be performing on the Music Pier the night before, on July 19.

Tickets are now available here. They range from $22 to $27, and it looks like there’s plenty of good seats available. Finnnnnnnnns to the left. Finnnnnnnns to the right.

🔗 News Links

A former OCBP lifeguard was sentenced to probation after allegations of assault surfaced against lifeguards on an Instagram page called “ocbp_predators” in 2021 🚔
A woman attacked a 10-year-old kid and his dad at a Wildwood Crest motel 🤦‍♀️
Pictures of Ocean City high school grads receiving diplomas 🎓

🏈 Brandon Graham Coming to Night in Venice

Brady gets hit… the ball is out… and Philly has it! - says a sleepy Al Michaels as he announces Super Bowl 52.

And with that, we bring you this official update from Ocean City:

Philadelphia Eagles veteran Brandon Graham and his family will be special guests and appear in the 2024 Night in Venice boat parade on July 20. Brandon represents everything that Philly fans love, and it’s a great honor to have the Grahams join us. They’ll get a warm welcome from everybody in Ocean City. Soon after Night in Venice, Brandon will report to training camp for his 15th season with the Eagles.

Graham will join the likes of recent NIV guests from sports, including Jay Wright and Comcast Spectator CEO Dan Hilferty, who recently sat down with my former site, Crossing Broad, to talk about his plans for expansion at the South Philly sports complex.

🔥 HOT RESTAURANT TAKE: Tomatoe’s Is Better Than Steve and Cookie’s

Lots of Margate coverage today, unintentionally.

But everyone knows that if you want to enjoy fine dining, you largely have to leave the island, save for a few bespoke options.

For those especially in the northern end of the island, Margate remains a great option. Everyone knows Steve and Cookie’s. After all, greats like Michael Jordan and Jason Kelce (among many, many others) dine there.

But getting a reservation to S and C is akin to splitting the atom. Meanwhile, Tomatoe’s, which has surged in popularity over the last few years, remains a pretty incredible alternative.

Tomatoe’s offers food at 80% of the quality of S and C with only 20% of the hassle. It’s easier to get a reservation, their parking lot is better, the wait staff is generally fun, friendly, and accommodating, and it’s quite a bit less stuffy.

Kids enjoy it too. Little Squirts loved the sushi and absolutely demolished a shared blueberry pie, which, unlike S and C meets the technical definition for being a pie (filling “in a pastry shell”), and not a pile of blueberries atop a thin crust.

There’s also a high-quality sushi bar and, later in the evenings, the actual bar is lively.*

*So I’m told. I have two small kids, so late nights for me consist of falling asleep on the couch -before- going to bed and then having to listen to a nonfiction audiobook for about 30 minutes or so in order to fall back asleep in an efficient fashion so I’m charged up to throw 96 innings of wiffleball in 486 degree sand the next day on the beach. Some real wild stuff.

📰 OCNJ Daily Sale Looking Like It Will Go Through

Last week we told you about the planned sale of one of Ocean City’s only other media outlets, OCNJ Daily, to Access Global Media, which is owned by media veteran Jim McDonald, who also owns the website Breaking AC.

After hearing about some potential holdups in the sale, I reached out to the current owner of OCNJ Daily, Ken Wisnefski. He confirmed that Access will be operating the site moving forward and control all content.

“It’s bittersweet for me,” Wisnefski said. “I live in Ocean City and love working on the OCNJDaily but I never was ever able to commit enough time to really expand it.”

“It has so much potential and Jim McDonald at Access has a similar vision I had for the site but he can place a full-time focus on them.”

Of course, this is where we would remind you that Walking The Boards reaches more than 14,000 Ocean City residents, vacationers, business owners, and blue crabs every week. The blue crabs never respond to our poll questions though— must be the opposable thumbs thing.

🍺 The Official Summer Shore Beer Fridge

Twitter tweet

A bit late this year, but I have fully stocked my summer Shore beer fridge. So let’s use the opportunity to take a very scientific and official poll:

🛟 List of Guarded Beaches

The Ocean City Beach Patrol guards beaches from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekends and holidays, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

From Saturday (June 22, 2024) through Friday (June 28, 2024), the following beaches will be guarded:

Surf Road
Atlantic
North
Stenton
St. Charles Place
Park Place
Brighton Place
Surfing Beach
8th Street (open until 7:30 p.m.)
9th Street (open until 7:30 p.m.)
10th Street
11th Street
12th Street (open until 7:30 p.m.)
14th Street
15th Street
18th Street
24th Street
26th Street
30th Street
34th Street
39th Street
44th Street
50th Street
55th Street
58th Street

Guarded beaches may close unexpectedly for various reasons. Please swim only in front of an OCBP lifeguard stand staffed by OCBP lifeguards.

Please note: There’s also the potential for high rip currents this week. Here’s a reminder what to do if you’re caught in one. Here’s a video showing a rip current.

🌊 Tides

June 24, 2024

• Low Tide: 4:32 AM

• High Tide: 10:21 AM

• Low Tide: 4:17 PM

• High Tide: 10:38 PM

June 25, 2024

• Low Tide: 5:19 AM

• High Tide: 11:11 AM

• Low Tide: 5:11 PM

• High Tide: 11:27 PM

June 26, 2024

• Low Tide: 6:07 AM

• High Tide: 12:05 PM

• Low Tide: 6:09 PM

June 27, 2024

• High Tide: 12:20 AM

• Low Tide: 6:58 AM

• High Tide: 1:02 PM

• Low Tide: 7:12 APM

Thanks! Enjoy the week.

Answer: That’s the Funny Face pancake from Doozie’s Place (100 Asbury Ave.)

Your Ocean City Father's Day Weekend Guide

Kyle Scott — Sat, 15 Jun 2024 13:12:27 +0000

POW MIA chair dedication ceremony yesterday

Good morning to the now more than 14,200 Walking The Boards subscribers!

We have a jam packed issue today, including an increase in the size of trash cans allowed (but it doesn’t totally solve the problem), details on a proposed family-friendly recreational facility, and the sale of one of Ocean City’s only media outlets.

In the email today:

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🛝 Details on Proposed Family Recreation Facility …
⚾️ Shane Victorino Was in Town
📲 New Cell Towers in the Works
🛟 List of Guarded Beaches
📰 OCNJ Daily Sold to New Owner
🔗 News Links
🍳 Doozie’s Place Grand Opening This Weekend
🌊 Tides
📊 Poll

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Saturday, June 15

🏃‍♂️ Health and Fitness Expo | Music Pier | Details and times here
🍉 Somers Point Farms Market (Somers Point) | 1000 Shore Rd. | 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
🥅 Celebrating the 1974 Flyers (Avalon) | Surfside Park | Details here
🧺 Summer Crafts and Collectibles Show (Cape May) | 1048 Washington Street | Details here

Saturday, June 15 - Sunday, June 16

🦀 All You Can Eat Seafood Extravaganza | Ocean City Waterpark (8th and Boardwalk) | Details and tickets here

Sunday, June 16

🌷Skimmer Antique Auto Show and Parade (Sea Isle) | Promenade north of JFK Boulevard | Details here
🍑 Stone Harbor Farmers Market (Stone Harbor) | Water Tower Lot | 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 16 - Thursday, June 20

🦞 Wildwoods Restaurant Week (Wildwood) | Wildwood Restaurants | Details here

Wednesday, June 19

🍓 Farmers Market | Tabernacle Grounds | 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Friday, June 21

🎺 Philly Wind Symphony | Music Pier | Tickets here
🎶 Somers Point Beach Concert (Somers Point) | The Billy Walton Band with Destinee Monroe | Details and times here

Friday, June 21 - Sunday, June 23

🦶🏻 Barefoot Country Music Fest (Wildwood) | Wildwood Beach | Details here

Next Weekend, June 22

🚗 Antique Auto Show | Boardwalk | Details here

Next Week

Two big concerts: Let’s Sing Taylor: A Live Band Experience Celebrating Taylor Swift (June 24), Kenny G (June 25)

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🚮 Stinky Trash Update

On Thursday, City Council approved Resolutions 10 and 11, which will allow residents to put out trash and recycling cans up to 64 gallons in size. This is up from the current 32 gallon limit, which no one was enforcing until this month.

More details

Stinky trash talk has been the topic du jour since a May announcement from the city informed residents that large 96-gallon trash and recycling cans would no longer be picked up by the city’s trash vendor, who cited an uptick in use of the larger cans.

The city’s contract, with Pineland Construction LLC out of Sea Isle, mandates the pickup of cans only up to 32 gallons in size.

So, City Council approved the proposals to increase the fee it pays to Pineland by $225k so that they collect cans… up to 64 gallons in size through October.

Not addressed: the 96-gallon cans so many residents use. These larger cans are meant for trucks with mechanical arms, which Pineland doesn’t use.

They had been taking the larger cans, but drew a line in the sand, citing increased worker’s comp costs to lift them.

At the meeting, Mayor Gillian took full responsibility for this issue, but said a solution was “not as easy as everybody thinks it is” because of all the considerations at play. He assured residents that taxes wouldn’t increase as a result of the additional payment.

You can watch the Mayor address the issue here:

He cited Ocean City’s many alleys and nooks and crannies, which make it difficult to fit the larger trucks. There’s also the impact on seniors, who may have more difficulty moving these larger cans.

On the other hand, with a population that swells to over 100k in the summer, having more smaller cans isn’t an ideal solution either.

The Mayor said the city will work on addressing the problem for next year.

The costs

Currently, based on the numbers provided in the resolutions, the city pays $1,136,375 annually each for trash and recycling pickup to Pineland, for a total of $2,272,750 per year. The new resolutions - $112,500 each for trash and recycling - bring that combined cost up to $2,497,750.

What isn’t clear is how that additional $225k enables the trash collectors to increase their capabilities from 32 to 64 gallon cans, or what is to be done with 96-gallon cans.

In 2022, when the city switched to Pineland from Gold Medal, it considered buying 96-gallon cans for every house in the city, but it would have cost upwards of $2 million. It was reported that switching to Pineland would save the city about $300k per year at the time. However, that number has inched upward, and with the proposed increase… well, you can do that math, with still no permanent solution.

🛝 Details on Proposed Family Recreation Facility and Indoor Golf Simulator

Last week we told you about the zoning application submitted by TJ Heist - owner of Totally Tubular Watersports, Aqua Park and Beachy Tiki - for The Yard, a family-friendly outdoor recreational facility planned for 741 West Ave.

I was able to speak with Heist through email, and he detailed some plans for the facility, which will be part of his OCNJ Watersports Family:

“I am super excited about The Yard because it’s a truly a one of a kind activity that will be unique to Ocean City. The main feature is an elevated netted playground with climbing features, soft slides, a crows nest, etc. The structure has the general shape of a ship, falling inline with the theme of our company OCNJ Watersports.”
TJ Heist

The Yard would feature, go figure, yard games on the ground level, with picnic tables for parents to watch from.

Inside might be more interesting.

Heist is proposing an indoor golf simulator for kids and adults, along with a light concession area for birthday parties and group events.

The current building isn’t exactly the most scenic, serving as what looks to be office and storage space for Totally Tubular.

“We are proposing new fencing and lots of landscaping to improve the curb appeal of the current building on West ave. I think it will be an improvement to the street and a complement to other businesses on the block like Heritage Surf Shop and Wallace Hardware.”
TJ Heist

The Zoning Board will consider Heist’s application on June 26.

If approved, construction is aimed to be completed in the fall and winter.

⚾️ Shane Victorino Was in Town

This picture is from Memorial Day Weekend and was shared by a friend of the ‘letter.

Other Phillies folks in town: Tom McCarthy (who owns a place on the island) mentioned on the broadcast last week that he was in town when the Phils were on national TV two weekends ago. So, too, was John Kruk, who, according to the broadcast, didn’t leave the house. Last night, they mentioned peach pancakes and shouted out Uncle Bill’s.

A GOOD FRIEND of the Phanatic is also a Walking The Boards subscriber.

Spot a Phillie or celebrity? Send a pic to us by replying to any of our emails!

📲 New Cell Towers in the Works

One of our co-owners is on 17th Street, and every time we have a FaceTime call to discuss Walking The Board’s BIG PLANS, his service drops out like he’s broadcasting from Mars and the planet has rotated just so that the signal inches through a small gap in the space-time continuum. Is that Matt Damon planting potatoes in The Martian? Nope, just the ol’ digital media business partner in his car hanging a right on Asbury.

I tell him to come to the Gardens, where I have full bars. He calls me an elitist. And so it goes.

Point being, cell service is inconsistent across the island. And at the City Council meeting on Thursday, the Mayor said something will be done about it.

The city will look to see where temporary cell trucks can be placed, likely around the 14th and 35-36th Street areas
More permanent towers will be considered
The mayor was hesitant to add more mobile trucks or towers in general because he thinks they’re ugly, but cited reports of spotty service as the reason for the pivot
It was becoming a public safety issue since so many people rely on cell phones and not having service could impact the ability to call 911
- Worth noting: newer iPhones allow for satellite communication to contact emergency services if you are without service, but this isn’t a very user-friendly feature, especially for senior citizens
Last year, the city passed an ordinance that new cell towers would only be placed on city-controlled property after resident pushback surrounding proposed cell antennas on 34rd Street on a building owned by developer Eustace Mita

Perhaps Verizon can bury some Fios cables while they’re at it.

🛟 List of Guarded Beaches

The Ocean City Beach Patrol guards beaches from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekends and holidays, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

From Saturday, June 15th, 2024 through Friday, June 21st, 2024, the following beaches will be guarded:

Surf Road
Atlantic
North
Stenton
St. Charles Place
Park Place
Brighton Place
8th Street
9th Street
10th Street
11th Street
12th Street
14th Street
26th Street
30th Street
34th Street
44th Street
55th Street
58th Street

EMT Services will be available at 1st Street, 12th Street, 34th Street, and 58th Street stations.

📰 OCNJ Daily Sold to New Owner

Notice a lack in city coverage lately? That’s because, according to multiple sources, OCNJ Daily, which employs pretty much the only two full-time reporters who cover the city, was recently purchased by media entrepreneur Jim McDonald and Access Global Media, according to the sources.

Details are sparse, but here’s what we know:

Access owns Breaking AC, which covers the Jersey Shore, and McDonald runs a media advisory group under the same brand (Access).
McDonald has a history of publishing local media and acquiring distressed newspaper brands. He was previously publisher of Metro Philly, and launched and subsequently sold BreakingNews.com to MSNBC.
We’re told OCNJ Daily plans to retain one or both of its reporters, but they haven’t written on the website in over a week.

Some context

The media landscape is very thin in Ocean City. OCNJ Daily was (and is still listed as being) owned by MediaWize, a local media group run by digital marketing entrepreneur Ken Wisnefski.
- In recent months, the site has taken to posting an overwhelming amount of spammy paid SEO articles that are completely irrelevant to Ocean City— usually a sign of media distress.
Meanwhile, the two other main outlets that cover news in Ocean City are The Patch - a network of local sites - which typically aggregates other coverage and has one writer for multiple markets, and OC Sentinel, which is an old school paper that’s been around forever.
And then there’s the AC Press, Philly Inquirer, or Victor Fiorillo, all of which only stop by when there’s major news, a stabbing, or Fiorillo wants to complain about the Boardwalk.

Where do we come in? We think Ocean City and other Jersey Shore towns can do better. We see this as an opportunity to create informative and engaging content to reach people where they spend most of their time (email and social).

So, challenge accepted. If you like what you find in the newsletter, be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

🔗 News Links

🍳 Doozie’s Place Grand Opening This Weekend

We first told you about Doozie’s Place back in the winter. The new restaurant at 100 Asbury Ave. had its soft opening last week, and we were there (video on our Instagram page).

From our social media team:

We had the honor of being a part of Doozie’s PLace soft opening this weekend and we can’t say enough about the new North end spot!! The vibe is calm and cool with beautiful art work by Kristina Young, surfboards covering the ceiling and a big smile greeting you right as you walk through the door from doozie herself! The menu was full of variety from sweet to savory and the perfect mix of healthy! This little slice of heaven is exactly what the north end needed and we can’t wait to go back!!! Check out Doozies Place for their grand opening Father’s Day Weekend!

Doozie’s Place is open from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. every day.

🌊 Tides

June 15, 2024

• High Tide: 3:06 AM

• Low Tide: 9:39 AM

• High Tide: 3:58 PM

• Low Tide: 10:12 PM

June 16, 2024

• High Tide: 4:00 AM

• Low Tide: 10:21 AM

• High Tide: 4:46 PM

• Low Tide: 11:07 PM

June 17, 2024

• High Tide: 4:52 AM

• Low Tide: 11:02 AM

• High Tide: 5:31 PM

• Low Tide: 11:58 PM

June 18, 2024

• High Tide: 5:43 AM

• Low Tide: 11:44 AM

• High Tide: 6:15 PM

June 19, 2024

• Low Tide: 12:46 AM

• High Tide: 6:31 AM

• Low Tide: 12:26 PM

• High Tide: 6:57 PM

📊 Poll

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.

Ocean City Residents May Be Able To Use Larger Trash Cans

Kyle Scott — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 13:47:25 +0000

The contract, with Pineland Construction LLC out of Sea Isle, mandates the pickup of cans only up to 32 gallons in size.

So, things will come to a head (sort of) at the Ocean City City Council meeting on Thursday when officials will consider Resolutions 10 and 11 to increase the fee it pays to Pineland by $225k so that they collect cans… up to 64 gallons in size through October.

Not mentioned: the 96-gallon cans so many residents use.

In his update last week, Mayor Gillian said:

“Please know that we are in the process of working with our contractor to make sure that trash and recycling pickup remains reliable, convenient and uninterrupted. We will provide updates if there are any further changes. The twice-weekly pickup begins tomorrow (Saturday, June 8), and more information on the summer schedule is available here. More information on trash and recycling is available at ocnj.us/trash-and-recycle-faq.”
Mayor Gillian

Currently, based on the numbers provided in the resolutions, the city pays $1,136,375 annually each for trash and recycling pickup to Pineland, for a total of $2,272,750 per year. If approved, the new resolutions - $112,500 each for trash and recycling - would bring that combined cost up to $2,497,750.

What isn’t clear ahead of the meeting is how that additional $225k would enable the trash collectors to increase their capabilities from 32 to 64 gallon cans, or what is to be done with 96-gallon cans.

Pineland’s agreement with the city has always been to collect up to 32 gallon cans, but apparently it wasn’t enforced strictly. Larger cans, up to 96 gallons, are meant for trucks with mechanical arms, which Pineland doesn't use.

We’ll update you after the meeting on Thursday.

Find this helpful? Get more stories like this by subscribing to our free weekly newsletter right here:

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The New Family Friendly Recreation Center Proposed for Ocean City

Kyle Scott — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 20:14:00 +0000

In our newsletter this week (subscribe here— it’s free) we told you about the zoning application submitted by TJ Heist - owner of Totally Tubular Watersports, Aqua Park and Beachy Tiki - for The Yard, a family-friendly outdoor recreational facility planned for 741 West Ave.

I was able to speak with Heist through email, and he detailed some plans for the facility, which will be part of his OCNJ Watersports Family:

“I am super excited about The Yard because it’s a truly a one of a kind activity that will be unique to Ocean City. The main feature is an elevated netted playground with climbing features, soft slides, a crows nest, etc. The structure has the general shape of a ship, falling inline with the theme of our company OCNJ Watersports.”
TJ Heist

The Yard would feature, go figure, yard games on the ground level, with picnic tables for parents to watch from.

Inside might be more interesting.

Heist is proposing an indoor golf simulator for kids and adults, along with a light concession area for birthday parties and group events.

The current building isn’t exactly the most scenic, serving as what looks to be office and storage space for Totally Tubular.

“We are proposing new fencing and lots of landscaping to improve the curb appeal of the current building on West ave. I think it will be an improvement to the street and a complement to other businesses on the block like Heritage Surf Shop and Wallace Hardware.”
TJ Heist

The Zoning Board will consider Heist’s application on June 26.

If approved, construction is aimed to be completed in the fall and winter.

Find this interesting? Get more stories like this by subscribing to our free weekly newsletter right here:

Subscribe for free

New Proposed Buildings Coming to Ocean City

Kyle Scott — Sun, 09 Jun 2024 13:47:29 +0000

Summer is almost upon us and we have lots of updates to get to.

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Sunday, June 9

🌷Flower Show | Music Pier | Times here
🍑 Stone Harbor Farmers Market (Stone Harbor) | Water Tower Lot | 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Wednesday, June 12

🍓 Farmers Market | Tabernacle Grounds | 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Friday, June 14

🎶 Somers Point Beach Concert (Somers Point) | BYWATER CALL | Details and times here

Next Weekend, June 15

🏃‍♂️ Health, Fitness and Wellness Expo | Music Pier | Details and times here

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🚔 A Teen Was Arrested for the Stabbing

Not a ton of news this week, but we do have an arrest in the Boardwalk stabbing. The investigation was led by the Cape May Prosecutor’s Office and the Ocean City Police Department.

A teen whose name is not being released has been charged with: attempted murder, a crime of the first degree; aggravated assault, a crime of the second degree; possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, a crime of the third degree; and possession of a weapon, a crime of the fourth degree.

Again, officials want to reiterate that this was not a random attack and was a pre-planned, targeted crime contained amongst a group of teens.

🏢 New Buildings Planned For Ocean City

I always enjoy digging into Zoning Board and Planning Board agendas because I have no life.

Anyway, we usually get stuff like “Joey wants to build a deck and needs a variance” or “Sally wants to add impervious to her lot”. Some really cutting edge stuff.

But every now and then you find some interesting, tangible proposals.

This was one of those weeks.

Let’s dig into a few proposed project applications that caught my eye:

The Yard (741 West Ave.)

From Himmelstein Investments and the owner of aqua-related properties in the city, comes a proposal for The Yard, which bills itself as an outdoor recreation facility, which includes an indoor golf simulator and concessions:

I reached out for more details but haven’t heard back yet (will update you if I do).

Mixed Use Building (3301 Bay Ave.)

From V2 Properties, here’s the plan for a mixed use commercial + residential building at the corner 33rd and Bay Ave. The site currently has a Remax office on it. There would be room for two commercial units on the first floor, with condos on the second and third floors.

Mixed Use Building (5501 Asbury Ave.)

Similar to the previous listing, this one from Duncan Real Estate Investments would be three lower level commercial units with condos on the second and third floors.

This was the home of the recently demolished Chapel By The Sea.

Banger on Wesley (2037 Wesley Ave)

And this beachfront banger with two condos at 2037 and 2039 Wesley Ave. Anyone got $5 million to spare?

🚮 We May Have a Stinky Trash Problem

The mayor’s weekly update this week included a curious item:

“Please know that we are in the process of working with our contractor to make sure that trash and recycling pickup remains reliable, convenient and uninterrupted. We will provide updates if there are any further changes. The twice-weekly pickup begins tomorrow (Saturday, June 8), and more information on the summer schedule is available here. More information on trash and recycling is available at ocnj.us/trash-and-recycle-faq.
Mayor Gillian

Never a great sign when your mayor has to reiterate that trash pickup will remain reliable.

But this announcement follows another from mid-May when the city’s trash contractor said it would stop picking up the 96-gallon trash containers designed to be picked up by mechanical arms because their trucks are loaded by hand:

UPDATE: The city’s waste management contractor is reporting an increased use of 96-gallon containers that are designed to be picked up mechanically. Because the contractor’s workers pick up trash and recycling containers by hand, they will no longer be able to service residences using 96-gallon containers as of June 1, 2024.

We’ll see how this impacts things now that the summer season has picked up and twice-weekly trash service has begun.

Have you had issues with trash pick up? Let us know by responding to this email.

Long time readers of this newsletter will know that I’m a germaphobe and dread taking out even two cans. If I have to exponentially increase the volume of cans I drag out to the curb every week, you’re… going to see me complain about this a lot more.

🛟 List of Guarded Beaches This Week

The Ocean City Beach Patrol guards beaches from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekends and holidays, and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

From Saturday, June 8, 2024 through Friday, June 14, 2024, the following beaches will be guarded:

• Surf Road

• Atlantic

• St. Charles Place

• Brighton Place

• 8th Street

• 9th Street

• 10th Street

• 11th Street

• 12th Street

• 26th Street

• 30th Street

• 34th Street

• 44th Street

• 58th Street

EMT Services will be available at 1st Street, 12th Street, 34th Street, and 58th Street stations.

🚴 City To Hold Bike Auction

The City of Ocean City will hold its annual Bicycle Auction 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, July 9, 2024 at the Shelter Road Recycling Center at 1 Shelter Road (off Tennessee Avenue, which intersects Bay Avenue near 23rd Street).

Details here.

🔗 News Links

📊 Poll

Results from our poll asking what food items you seek out on on Memorial Day Weekend:

🌊 Tides

June 9, 2024

• Low Tide: 5:10 AM

• High Tide: 11:10 AM

• Low Tide: 5:05 PM

• High Tide: 11:18 PM

June 10, 2024

• Low Tide: 5:53 AM

• High Tide: 12:00 PM

• Low Tide: 5:50 PM

June 11, 2024

• High Tide: 12:05 AM

• Low Tide: 6:37 AM

• High Tide: 12:50 PM

• Low Tide: 6:38 PM

June 12, 2024

• High Tide: 12:52 AM

• Low Tide: 7:23 AM

• High Tide: 1:39 PM

• Low Tide: 7:31 PM

June 13, 2024

• High Tide: 1:39 AM

• Low Tide: 8:13 AM

• High Tide: 2:26 PM

• Low Tide: 8:32 PM

June 14, 2024

• High Tide: 2:26 AM

• Low Tide: 9:05 AM

• High Tide: 3:15 PM

• Low Tide: 9:32 PM

Thanks!

Chaos on the Boards

Kyle Scott — Sat, 01 Jun 2024 12:20:08 +0000

The summer is unofficially upon us, which means we have our annual handwringing over what to do with those damn teens.

Let’s get into it.

In the email this week:

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City
🚔 Boardwalk Chaos Last Weekend
🦷 Phil Murphy Says There’s Nothing To See Here, M …
🏃‍♂️ Registration is Open for First Responder 5k
🍻 The Kelces
🏖️ Ocean City Voted Second Favorite Beach
🛟 List of Guarded Beaches
🔗 News Links
🌊 Tides

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Saturday, June 1

🍉 Somers Point Farmers Market (Somers Point) | 1000 Shore Rd. | 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
🍷 Annual Wine Tasting (Sea Isle) | Kix McNutly’s | Details here — this likely isn’t a pinky’s out sort of event

Sunday, June 2

🦀 Cape May Restaurant Week (Cape May) | June 2-9 | Details here
🚴‍♂️ Le Tour De Downbeach (Margate) | Through Absecon Island | Details here
🏃‍♂️‍➡️ M and M Connect 100,000 Steps Walk | Civic Center (6th Street and Boardwalk) | Details and times here

Wednesday, June 5

🍓 Farmers Market | Tabernacle Grounds | 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Thursday, June 6

🐻 Wonder’s Birthday Bash at Gillian’s Wonderland Pier | Wonderland Pier | 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. — “Happy birthday, Wonder Bear! Will your ferris wheel be running this summer?”

Next Weekend, June 7-9

🌷Flower Show | Music Pier | Times here

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🚔 Boardwalk Chaos Last Weekend

The mayor and friends held their now annual press conference at the Music Pier on Thursday to discuss the events of Memorial Day Weekend, which this year included a stabbing, fights and more general chaos on the Boardwalk.

As you are likely already aware, a teen was stabbed by an unknown assailant on Saturday night, seemingly as a result of pre-planned fights amongst out-of-town teens.

Here are some highlights of the press conference:

The Mayor reiterated that this sort of behavior won’t be tolerated
The fights and stabbing were contained amongst a group of teens that apparently planned to throw-down on the Boards
The teens involved in fights were from Atlantic City, Mays Landing, and Pleasantville
None of the incidents involved or were targeted at tourists or vacationers
Police Chief Campbell called out New Jersey state laws which prevent police from issuing citations or arresting underage teens for public drinking or marijuana use
- In a striking moment, someone asked what would happen to an adult with an open beer in Ocean City vs. a teen— the answer? the adult would probably be issued an ordinance violation, while the teen would get a warning
- In January, Governor Phil Murphy vetoed a bill that would have allowed police to issue a $50 fine to teens for underage drinking
Though Campbell mentioned new city ordinances could be considered by City Council, no hard policies were put in place by Ocean City to combat unruly teens
Officials pled to the state to reconsider laws passed by the Murphy administration limiting their ability to question or arrest teens
Campbell said that 24 new seasonal officers will join the force next Friday, with 20 of them stationed on the Boardwalk
- Worth noting: Last year, police said crime in other parts of the city picked up due to increased focus on Boardwalk following events of last Memorial Day Weekend

Our take: The Mayor and city are doing all they can to combat throngs of teens causing general chaos on the Boardwalk. It’s not an Ocean City-specific problem, as there was a STATE OF EMERGENCY issued in Wildwood last weekend and public panic in Seaside Heights over false threats.

It is easy to politicize this issue, and we’ll try not to do that. But local officials along the coast have consistently pled with the state to give them more ability to enforce laws against teens. Progressives in Central and North Jersey are trying to address systemic issues related to teens in high-crime areas by not throwing them into the legal system for otherwise minor offenses.

But it’s a large state, and the Jersey Shore basically functions as its own tourist economy. Not to strain the example, but there’s a reason why armed police line the highway leading to popular all-inclusive resorts outside of Cancun— the expectation for what goes in towns and cities throughout the region is different than what goes in tourist towns. It’s also important to the economy.

I’m not comparing New Jersey to Mexico. I’m just simply trying to illustrate the lengths governments go to in order to protect important tourist areas, which have different expectations.

And so, potentially well-meaning laws aimed to curb non-violent offenses from ruining lives in one part of the state have a disproportionate negative impact on Shore towns. Teens, meanwhile, know there is little consequence for general debauchery. And of course, inevitably, mostly harmless said debauchery devolves amongst a small percentage into fights, and now, life-threatening violence.

So all city officials are left to do is beg the state to allow them to police effectively, and ask parents to know where their kids are at 10 p.m. on weekend nights.

But combatting disorderly conduct, mostly amongst teens, is getting very old. These are some previous headlines on WTB, all from last June:

🦷 Phil Murphy Says There’s Nothing To See Here, Move Along

Phil Murphy and his lightly-tussled hair disagrees with the sentiment that there was “chaos” along the Jersey Shore last weekend.

He told a News 12 New Jersey host the following about incidents at the Shore:

“On the one hand, you’re taking anything like this deadly seriously - we always have and we always will - including post-mortems on what we as a state can do to help out,” Murphy said before calling out ‘ridiculous’ headlines about the weekend’s incidents.
“There was a hysterical header in the Star-Ledger today, which was ridiculous: the shore did not have a chaotic weekend,” the governor added. “There were three very serious incidents, but this was overwhelmingly a huge memorial day.”
Governor Murphy

He cited signing a bill in January that allows for more effective policing. This bill does allow officers to approach teens without fear of being accused of intimidation or discrimination. But as we mentioned before, Murphy vetoed the ability for officers to issue a $50 fine for underage drinking as a condition to signing the bill.

🏃‍♂️ Registration is Open for First Responder 5k

On a lighter note…

The Emergency Responder 5-kilometer run/walk will be held on Saturday, June 8, 2024, and registration remains open. Formerly known as the “Cop Chase,” the event now honors all first responders and moves to a new location near the Ocean City Intermediate School. The race starts and finishes at 18th Street and Haven Avenue at 8:30 a.m. with a flat out-and-back course along the Haven Avenue bike route.

The event also includes a one-mile walk/run (8 a.m.) and kids’ challenges (50-meter and 100-meter dashes, 400-meter obstacle course) at 9 a.m.

Registration is open now, and a discounted pre-registration fee of $25 will be available through June 1. Online registration and further information are available at www.ocnj.us/race-events.

🍻 The Kelces

Meanwhile in Margate… a Main Line chocolatier accosted the Family Kelce as they went to dine at Steve and Cookies.

Here’s video, which gained traction with the help of my former site, Crossing Broad:

Twitter tweet

The woman issued a statement apologizing after she was confronted by Philly Mag reporter and Ocean City hater Victor Fiorillo:

"In a heated moment, I said things that were out of character for me and that I regret and for that, I am sorry. Although I apologized directly to the Kelce family on Saturday, I want to publicly apologize to them, and our community. My anger, and my actions, are not who I am, and certainly not indicative of the welcoming community of Margate.
As an adult and proud member of my community, I should have recognized and respected their right to privacy from the onset. I am deeply appreciative of the grace and understanding shown to me by the Kelces and wish them nothing but the best."

I think we can all move on here.

🏖️ Ocean City Voted Second Favorite Beach

For the first time in a decade, Ocean City did not win USA Today’s Best Beach in New Jersey poll, finishing second to - checks notes - Wildwood.

Ugh.

Here’s the top 10:

Wildwood
Ocean City
Sea Isle
Atlantic City
Cape May
Long Beach Island
Avalon
Island Beach State Park
Brigantine Beach
Asbury Park

Could snark about the state of emergency in Wildwood last weekend… but, we may want to sit this one out.

In very unrelated but strategically-placed news, Wildwood beaches were under advisory for high levels of fecal bacteria in the water.

🛟 List of Guarded Beaches

From Saturday, June 1, 2024 through Friday, June 7, 2024, the following beaches will be guarded:

• E. Atlantic Blvd.

• North Street

• Stenton Place (Weekend Only)

• St. Charles Place

• Brighton Place

• 8th Street

• 9th Street

• 10th Street

• 11th Street (Weekend Only)

• 12th Street

• 14th Street (Weekend Only)

• 26th Street

• 30th Street

• 34th Street

• 44th Street

• 58th Street

Please remember:

🔗 News Links

🌊 Tides

June 1, 2024

High Tide: 4:06 AM
Low Tide: 10:30 AM
High Tide: 4:46 PM
Low Tide: 11:12 PM

June 2, 2024

High Tide: 5:10 AM
Low Tide: 11:22 AM
High Tide: 5:45 PM

June 3, 2024

Low Tide: 12:09 AM
High Tide: 6:11 AM
Low Tide: 12:13 PM
High Tide: 6:40 PM

June 4, 2024

Low Tide: 1:04 AM
High Tide: 7:06 AM
Low Tide: 1:04 PM
High Tide: 7:30 PM

June 5, 2024

Low Tide: 1:58 AM
High Tide: 7:57 AM
Low Tide: 1:54 PM
High Tide: 8:17 PM

June 6, 2024

Low Tide: 2:51 AM
High Tide: 8:45 AM
Low Tide: 2:45 PM
High Tide: 9:02 PM

June 7, 2024

Low Tide: 3:40 AM
High Tide: 9:32 AM
Low Tide: 3:33 PM
High Tide: 9:46 PM

Thanks. Enjoy the weekend!

Your Ocean City Memorial Day Weekend Guide

Kyle Scott — Fri, 24 May 2024 13:00:00 +0000

It is MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND.

After the long, cold, very wet slog of winter, the unofficial start of summer hath arrived, and we are in for some pretty, prettttttty good weather.

Gif by curbyourenthusiasm on Giphy

Some possible thunderstorms around the time this hits your inbox and perhaps again late day Saturday, but other than that, low 70s, mostly sunny.

Let’s get right to it.

In the email today:

🦀 Free Crab Fries and Farley Rest Stop Party Toda …
🎤 Bob Kelly In Town Today
🍕 Bakeria 1010 Soft Opens
🦀 Obadiah’s Hard Opens
🥖 Patroni’s Is Opening Soon
🏝️ Sand House Isn’t Ready To Reopen
🛟 List of Guarded Beaches This Weekend
🔗 News Links
🌊 Tides
📊 Poll

📆 Upcoming Events in (and around) Ocean City

Friday, May 24

👨‍💼 Unlocking of the Ocean Business Persons Plunge | Moorlyn Terrace Street Beach | 12:00 p.m.

Saturday, May 25

🏃‍♂️‍➡️ Memorial Beach Challenge | Beach by Music Pier | Family-friendly obstacle course event starting at 7:30 a.m.— two races, including a kids fun run, full event details here and registration info here
🍉 Somers Point Farmers Market (Somers Point) | 1000 Shore Rd. | 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Sunday, May 26

🍓 Strawberry Festival (Stone Harbor) | St. Mary’s Parish Hall (95th Street and 3rd Avenue) | Strawberry desserts and ice cream from Springer’s from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Monday, May 27

Memorial Day Parade (Somers Point) | Throughout Somers Point | Details here
🇺🇸 Memorial Day Service | Veterans Memorial Park | 11:00 a.m.
📴 National Moment of Remembrance | Everywhere in America | Congress asks that every American stop what they’re doing at 3:00 p.m. to pause for a one-minute moment of remembrance

Also note the Ocean City Library has many events for adults and kids alike on their calendar, which can be viewed here.

🦀 Free Crab Fries and Farley Rest Stop Party Today

Two big things going on during your trip down today.

Chickie’s and Pete’s will continue its annual tradition of picking up the Farley toll on the Atlantic City Expressway from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m today.

That’s great and all, but if I’m still on the AC Expressway at 4:00 p.m. and not sipping an ice cold Surfside eating a fresh slice of Manco’s while watching Action News tell us its Memorial Day Weekend at that hour… well, I just might be homicidal.

Leave a little earlier and you’ll be able to pick up free crab fries at the Farley Rest Stop from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., along with a host of other vendors during that time.

There will be an outdoor celebration with complimentary food and drink from:

• Hershey's Ice Cream

• Mars

• Carlo's Bakery

• Applegreen

• Monster Energy Drink

The celebration will also include:

• The Funny Farm rescue sanctuary

• Dalmatian puppies for puppy meet and greets

• New Jersey State Police K9 dog team

• Atlantic City International Airport Fire and Rescue Equipment

• Dozens of other organizations, vendors, artists, and exhibitors

Prepare yourself for the Boardwalk this summer by running the 6-man weave of crab fries, ice cream, candy, desserts, fast food, and a sugary energy drink this afternoon!

🎤 Bob Kelly In Town Today

Jammo on 34th Street!

Bob Kelly will be in town as this email goes out, on Friday morning from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the new Sandcastle Putt Club on 34th Street, which we’ve told you all about.

Not much more to add here, but people on Facebook are already complaining about the $14 mini golf tickets. Uh, $14? That’s not bad. Have you bought a pizza lately?

🍕 Bakeria 1010 Soft Opens

Speaking of expensive pizza, Mike Fitzick, aka Pizza Jew, is re-locating his old Linwood Bakeria 1010 to 955 Asbury Ave. and is now open for business.

Fitzick has bounced all over the place, including a very short-lived stint at Express Pizza in the Gardens last summer.

His Island Square was very good (7.5 out of 10), but prohibitively expensive early on. Square pies will top out at $38 at Bakeria.

Still, try this I shall:

🦀 Obadiah’s Hard Opens

So I’m just going to be honest here: I had no idea Obadiah’s Seafood Market reopened last year.

Perhaps that’s because they never held their grand re-opening, which they did last week.

Obadiah’s Seafood Market is owned by the Blue Dog Hospitality Group, backed by Tim Fox, which purchased other favorite spots like Yesterdays and Deauville Inn, both of which have reopened to great success.

From OC Sentinel:

Captain Obadiah’s is the latest of the four properties to get a face-lift and likely will be followed next year by Sketties, which has been closed for several years. Brenna said they are planning to stick with the Italian theme that is “fun for the whole family.”
The seafood market staff prides itself on helping would-be chefs prepare a successful meal for the family. Captain Obadiah’s recipes are hanging on the front wall, allowing patrons to get the fresh fish from the raw case and other ingredients from the dry goods section before heading home for a culinary adventure.
“We’ve been working on this venue for about a year. We did a lot of improvements, dialed in the menu a little bit. We are reinventing what we’re doing here,” Blue Dog Vice President Adam Modder said.
OC Sentinel

🥖 Patroni’s Is Opening Soon

Speaking of running it back… the former Voltaco’s building, which just sold a few weeks ago, already has a sign for the new spot we told you about last week.

It’s not open yet (we don’t believe) as they are aiming for a mid-June open. Stay tuned for a deep dive review.

🏝️ Sand House Isn’t Ready To Reopen

Well this is going to disrupt my summer. Sand House is one of my favorite spots, given its Gardens proximity. But it is not ready to reopen.

I spoke to the owner and he said that following the project to raise the building this winter (which we told you about in February), they discovered that the building was “basically rotted and has to go through engineer, city approvals, etc to continue the job.”

“We should be back on track for mid summer reopening.”

The project was aimed to be completed by April 1.

But their other restaurant, Dockside Kitchen, looks like it’s ripping and ready to go:

🛟 List of Guarded Beaches This Weekend

From Saturday, May 25, 2024 through Friday, May 31, 2024, the following beaches will be guarded:

St. Charles Place
Brighton Place
8th Street
9th Street
10th Street
11th Street
12th Street
26th Street
34th Street
58th Street

🔗 News Links

🌊 Tides

Friday, May 24, 2024:

Low Tide: 3:41 AM
High Tide: 9:29 AM
Low Tide: 3:32 PM
High Tide: 9:45 PM

Saturday, May 25, 2024:

Low Tide: 4:23 AM
High Tide: 10:10 AM
Low Tide: 4:12 PM
High Tide: 10:26 PM

Sunday, May 26, 2024:

Low Tide: 5:05 AM
High Tide: 10:57 AM
Low Tide: 4:53 PM
High Tide: 11:13 PM

Monday, May 27, 2024:

Low Tide: 5:48 AM
High Tide: 11:50 AM
Low Tide: 5:40 PM

Tuesday, May 28, 2024:

High Tide: 12:06 AM
Low Tide: 6:37 AM
High Tide: 12:47 PM
Low Tide: 6:37 PM

Wednesday, May 29, 2024:

High Tide: 1:03 AM
Low Tide: 7:32 AM
High Tide: 1:45 PM
Low Tide: 7:47 PM

Thursday, May 30, 2024:

High Tide: 2:00 AM
Low Tide: 8:30 AM
High Tide: 2:43 PM
Low Tide: 8:50 PM

📊 Poll

Thanks! Enjoy the weekend.