so you are saying kids should not go to any restaurant in new Brunswick because its too dangerous...lol
Asbury Park
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so you are saying kids should not go to any restaurant in new Brunswick because its too dangerous...lol
+1. My wife and I have taken our now 11 year-olds on daytrips and one-nighters to AP for years. The girls love the beach (of course), the Silverball, MOGO fusion tacos, Eddie Confetti's and annually beg us to take them to the Stone Pony or Wonder Bar (mostly because they understand that they're places of interest where we haven't taken them). They've never been drugged while dancing at Porta. But, we did once give them Claritin after lunch at the Langosta Lounge (thanks to the angels at the FDA, they were fine). If you're looking for a merry-go-round, salt water taffy and airbrushed shirts, AP isn't your place. It has a hipper, edgier quality. But, there's plenty to do for kids and the boardwalk area is absolutely safe for families day or night.
Lots of better places than NB and closer, so why bother? And just to mention, the RAC and HPSS are not in NB, so we are good to go.
But once again, let's stay focused on the topic, family friendly beaches, shore towns. Plenty to choose from, so why go to AP with all of its problems?
I prefer AP over some place like PP... not even close. The only problem with AP is that it's crowded with like families with kids and oh that violent gay crowd. They actually have way better food options... big plus on MOGO for example. Or just walking around the shops on cookman. PP has a bunch of greasy crap and a bunch of meathead bennies to annoy you.
I'm not denying issues in AP but if you are talking about what the op is looking for you would never even have the opportunity to encounter any of them.
I can't stand the 'Benny' put down (especially when a number of shore towns are dependent on tourism). That being said, Point Pleasant the town is cool but the boardwalk/attractions outside of the aquarium are IMO the biggest ripoff at the Jersey Shore. Parking is like $20+, a barebones chicken sandwich is $9.50 and the boardwalk games are like $3.50 a pop. Sorry, don't feel like dropping $300 in a matter of 2 hours to do things with my kids I could do at half the price almost anywhere else where there's rides and stands.
Joe P.
Joe P.
I love Porta. I have never been there past 8pm.
But they have pretty good pizza and INCREDIBLE day-boat octopus that's always delicious...comes with some fingerling potatoes, capers and fennel. The place is totally family friendly during the day. Bocce courts, pizza and live music.
But I can't speak for the boom-boom room.
But they have pretty good pizza and INCREDIBLE day-boat octopus that's always delicious...comes with some fingerling potatoes, capers and fennel. The place is totally family friendly during the day. Bocce courts, pizza and live music.
But I can't speak for the boom-boom room.
bac - it's T - ignore him, as he's a known troll on many topics, including this one. Brought our son into NB and AP ever since he was born, 21 years ago. Sure there are parts of almost any urban location that can be a little dangerous (there have reportedly been murders in parts of NYC, I hear), but these urban locations are usually the most interesting places to go, especially if you like things with a "flavor packet," i.e., a little artsy, with a bit of an edge, which almost always means good restaurants, interesting shops, cool bars, etc. T probably only goes to chain restaurants in "safe" strip malls in suburbia, i.e., a big night out for him is a movie and Buffalo Wild Wingz.
And for the OP, as many have said, tons to do with kids in AP, with my favorite being the Silverball Museum - been there too many times to count with my family.
Okay, I gotta ask. Where were you bringing a five year old in circa 1999 Asbury Park? I don't even think the pawn shop was open on Cookman back then. And the boardwalk was scary, not dangerous scary, but abandoned, hear your feet echo on the boardwalk scary. It couldn't be to listen to music, because Domenic didn't renovate the Pony until 2000-2001.
I like Asbury. Believe it or not, I was the VP of the Chamber of Commerce there from 2004-2006. But saying you were bringing your kid around when Ocean Ave was just peep shows & hourly rental motels isn't exactly something to brag about.
In my opinion, Asbury beach & boardwalk is safe. It's just not kid friendly.
Ocean Ave NEVER had peep shows and hourly rental motels. There has always been The Empress and the Berkley Carteret (now the Berkley), and I don't recall ever hearing about hourly rentals. There was a pornographic movie theatre adjacent Palace Amusements, but that was not on Ocean Ave. No peep shows. The Boardwalk was not that bad in 2000. It was less busy than now, but there were some concessions there.
In 2000 AP Boardwalk was like an abandoned building.....on a busy Saturday there would be like 10 people there spread out over the beach. If you wanted a quiet, and quite frankly a deeply depressing beach destination there it was. I know Madame Marie's was on the boardwalk, but I really don't remember anything else being there. There may have been a mobile pretzel/Italian ice cart there, but for the most part it was a post-apocalyptic scene there as far as a beach destination goes.
Obviously, AP was in much worse shape in the 90s than today, but the boardwalk and some of the old buildings there, like Convention Hall and the Palace were very still very cool to visit and the boardwalk was decent enough/safe enough to walk around and I recall there being some concessions. We're not big "beach" people, so we didn't go to AP for the day and stay on the beach. We also had friends who renovated a beautiful old house in AP in the late 90s (for those unaware, the gay community is the reason AP has had a resurgence) and we'd visit them occasionally, too. I also don't recall peep shows on Ocean.
By the early 2000s, when our son was starting to understand music a bit more, we liked showing jim some of the great old venues we had been frequenting since the 80s, like the Pony, the Fastlane, the Wonder Bar, AP Lanes, and the Saint, since quite a few of the bands he heard on my tapes (still had tapes back then) were bands I/we had seen in AP. By the mid/late 2000s, as you'd know, the revitalization was in full swing on the boardwalk and around Cookman, so we've certainly gone more frequently in the last 7-10 years than we did before then. Also, our son's first "bar" show, was at the Pony, when he was 15, when we took him to see Gaslight Anthem, at an all-ages show. He and his friend absolutely loved it and my son's band has now played a few times in AP (Wonder Bar and Asbury Lanes) in the past year or two.
I take my kids 10 and 12 to Asbury, nearly exclusively, I have had season beach badges both last year and this year. Great restaurants, great beach, silverball arcade is awesome, always nice friendly people. there's usually performers on the boardwalk like the magician, etc. My kids LOVE the MOGO food truck. Point Pleasant and all the typical NJ boardwalks to the south feel like overpriced, overhyped, overcrowded tourist traps to me. The only reason I ever head down there is to go to the tidewater beach water park. otherwise, AP is where it's at. I have never had any issues, day or night, with or without my kids, by the board walk or up by cookman ave. I love going to the brickwall, bond street bar, etc.
I always thought the old AP would have been a good location for a Mad Max movie (post-apocalyptic and surreal). It's much improved today. As far a kid friendly, my kid never needed more than the beach, the ocean, and some beach toys to have fun. Most of our family trips to the shore were at Ocean Grove, with a walk over to the AP boardwalk (the Korean tacos are great) and back at some point.
Triple those numbers and you have a well behaved Uconn crowd.
I would think if you want to spend 75% of the time on the beach, that Asbury is fine. Point Pleasant is more built-up on the boardwalk and if you want to spend more time eating pizza and playing skee-ball, I would think PP fits the bill. If most of the time will be on the beach, then Asbury should be fine and has enough non-beach activities to get you through the day.
It is really not surprising when you look at this thread that some NJ kids are scared of New Brunswick, or NYC, or a lot of places. The retreat into the suburbs of decades ago is reversing courtesy of millenials but there will always be that NJ contingent for whom cultural excursion is General Tso's chicken in a strip mall. Really pathetic.
If you are scared to walk around Easton Ave, you are not a man, you are just pathetic.
If you are scared to walk around Easton Ave, you are not a man, you are just pathetic.
What are you even talking about?
It's as if every post you make on this board has nothing to do with the actual topic, it's just an excuse for you to babble some nonsense.
And I'm pretty sure growing up in Marlboro doesn't exactly qualify you as some kind of Lonely Planet tour guide.
Someone posted in this thread that is is unsafe to take your family to a restaurant on Easton Avenue. Who can discuss travel outside of NJ when even on a board about RU we are told by "fans" that the campus is unsafe for families?
I'm well traveled but that is hardly the point in a thread where the safety of the campus at hand is in question, nevermind subjecting children to the Pinball Museum in Asbury or whatever nonsense.
BTW, there was a shooting in Manalapan not that long ago, a stabbing in Colts Neck, and a shooting in Marlboro- and oh yeah the former mayor was arrested for child molestation last week. But keep the kids away Stuff Yer Face and Langosta Lounge!!!
I'm well traveled but that is hardly the point in a thread where the safety of the campus at hand is in question, nevermind subjecting children to the Pinball Museum in Asbury or whatever nonsense.
BTW, there was a shooting in Manalapan not that long ago, a stabbing in Colts Neck, and a shooting in Marlboro- and oh yeah the former mayor was arrested for child molestation last week. But keep the kids away Stuff Yer Face and Langosta Lounge!!!
I didn't see anyone say that Easton Ave. is dangerous, although you have to consider that the comment, if it was made, could have simply been a critique of the food.
I lived on the corner of French and Comstock for a year. I had a bullet come through my bedroom window one day. I used to have to chase the crack addicts away from my car. I think it's entirely reasonable to draw the analogy "The boardwalk is to Asbury Park as the College Avenue Campus is to New Brunswick". Outside of the marquis attractions, both towns are largely shitholes.
I lived on the corner of French and Comstock for a year. I had a bullet come through my bedroom window one day. I used to have to chase the crack addicts away from my car. I think it's entirely reasonable to draw the analogy "The boardwalk is to Asbury Park as the College Avenue Campus is to New Brunswick". Outside of the marquis attractions, both towns are largely shitholes.
+1
NIRH just likes to whine. He has no idea what he is talking about, but that doesn't matter to libs. There is plenty of wonderful experiences in safe communities and plenty of diversity to enjoy. My elitist town enjoys a population that represents 62 different cultures. And we also enjoy close to zero violent crime and a commitment to families and education. You don't need to sacrifice one for the other.
That's fine but it lacked that nuance if you want to call it that. Tourists fill NYC and not East NY or the Bronx. This is not phenomenon unique to those places, and nor is the typecasting.
Where? And why on you on this board if you're afraid of New Brunswick? Go root for someplace where Dbag-Americans like you can live with the freedom to be ill informed and paid to troll without criticism.
I believe T said that he would not go into New Brunswick with little kids in the context that it is dangerous. But then one should take into consideration that he pretty much continually trolls this board.
Apparently you're the only one who doesn't have this T (TSoprano?) blocked, because the only person I've seen say New Brunswick isn't safe is NIRH.
T2Kplus10, formerly known as traszka or something like that, is not the old Tony Soprano, by a long shot. T is a right wing troll, who will always go out of his way to disparage "libs" and anything that is even near the center, politically, and he clearly loves being elitist. Oddly, he completely believes in "established science" as it applies to Big Pharma and evolution, but not global warming, when there is a much larger profit motive for Big Pharma to "stretch the truth" than for a bunch of climatology profs. TSoprano was a Rutgers sports troll, if I recall correctly. I have nobody on ignore, fwiw.
us shore towns would do just fine without ya benny[smoke] .. but keep coming for over priced things!
I think this is an interesting analogy except that New Brunswick has one of the biggest corporations in the country in J and J, and also houses the county courthouse which brings in a lot of white collar workers. Asbury really only swells 3 months a year, but of course you have a very big gay/artsy population which most people know is the beginning of turning an area around. New Brunswick is an extremely unique situation with the haves and have nots, and that's not including a state college smack dab in the middle. Both have some of the best restaurants in the state, and both have a great entertainment scene. For me - I would much sooner live in New Brunswick, than live in Asbury, even though they are both littered with bad areas where you really wouldn't want to find yourself when the sun goes down.
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There are a lot of teens/early 20's scared of their own shadows due to their nervous wreck parents.
Some racism mixed in too I have found.
I enjoy the country, the Shore and suburbs, but, I prefer cities and downtowns in NJ.
That includes downtown New Brunswick, Newark (downtown and the Ironbound), Atlantic City and North Bergen/WNY (Bergenline).
It's laughable that grown adults would actually be afraid to go have a beer in downtown NB, go see a game or show at Prudential Center, go for a walk on the AC boardwalk or shop on Bergenline on a Saturday afternoon.
Stats have proven that those above mentioned locales are safe as long as you exhibit common sense like you would while visiting any city.
"Okay, I gotta ask. Where were you bringing a five year old in circa 1999 Asbury Park? I don't even think the pawn shop was open on Cookman back then. And the boardwalk was scary, not dangerous scary, but abandoned, hear your feet echo on the boardwalk scary. It couldn't be to listen to music, because Domenic didn't renovate the Pony until 2000-2001."
No offense, but live music was always going on in Asbury. The Pony is only one place. I've been seen shows in AP since the 80s and there were always places to go...
I agree with you though that the boardwalk was dead then. It was dead for years afterwards actually. I interviewed Southside Johnny around 2003 and he asked where we should meet up. I was like, "it's a beautiful summer day, let's meet up at the boardwalk since it'll be quiet there." Sure enough, we were the only people there that day.
It's funny when I hear people talk about how packed the beach gets in Asbury these days. It's still just a fraction of the crowds that used to be there and barely a blip compared to the summer crowds at towns like Belmar and Point Pleasant. Asbury Park is coming back but it's still got a ways to go...
No offense, but live music was always going on in Asbury. The Pony is only one place. I've been seen shows in AP since the 80s and there were always places to go...
I agree with you though that the boardwalk was dead then. It was dead for years afterwards actually. I interviewed Southside Johnny around 2003 and he asked where we should meet up. I was like, "it's a beautiful summer day, let's meet up at the boardwalk since it'll be quiet there." Sure enough, we were the only people there that day.
It's funny when I hear people talk about how packed the beach gets in Asbury these days. It's still just a fraction of the crowds that used to be there and barely a blip compared to the summer crowds at towns like Belmar and Point Pleasant. Asbury Park is coming back but it's still got a ways to go...
" Asbury Park is coming back but it's still got a ways to go..."
well the best part is - they aren't pushing it too fast. a little bit more development comes in every year. very well paced, while they collect revenue on the parking/badges/taxes, and plow it right back into upgrading the streets/lights/sidewalks/striping. you can see new apt buildings being renovated. someone just bought asbury lanes, that will be developed too.
i will be there with my kids on the 5th ave beach starting this weekend for the whole week - swimming, eating mogo korean tacos, playing "medieval madness" pinball and skeeball at silverball, havin a beer at the APYC, etc. you won't catch me at overcrowded overpriced seaside, etc.
well the best part is - they aren't pushing it too fast. a little bit more development comes in every year. very well paced, while they collect revenue on the parking/badges/taxes, and plow it right back into upgrading the streets/lights/sidewalks/striping. you can see new apt buildings being renovated. someone just bought asbury lanes, that will be developed too.
i will be there with my kids on the 5th ave beach starting this weekend for the whole week - swimming, eating mogo korean tacos, playing "medieval madness" pinball and skeeball at silverball, havin a beer at the APYC, etc. you won't catch me at overcrowded overpriced seaside, etc.
The AP Boardwalk is now immortalized both in the Sopranos (Big Pussy episodes) and The Wrestler.
Kevin Smith's Dogma
City by The Sea starring Robert Deniro
The video for "Feels Like Today" by Rascall Flatts
Were all also filmed in that time period
There are parts of NB that are unsafe and I think the cops generally don't care about keeping students safe.
That said, any grown man afraid to walk on Easton Ave is not a man (unless it's in a TTFP jersey on game day which I wouldn't be surprised at for board trolls).
He has also remarked that downtown Jersey City is unsafe when that is complete baloney and unless he lives in Alpine or Millburn or somewhere of that ilk, which I doubt, he likely lives somewhere that costs less so not sure what the elitist remark was in reference to.
That said, any grown man afraid to walk on Easton Ave is not a man (unless it's in a TTFP jersey on game day which I wouldn't be surprised at for board trolls).
He has also remarked that downtown Jersey City is unsafe when that is complete baloney and unless he lives in Alpine or Millburn or somewhere of that ilk, which I doubt, he likely lives somewhere that costs less so not sure what the elitist remark was in reference to.
He also is paid to be here by Christie. Mostly, he seems like the kind of person who was angry when people left town to go to college and he stayed home afraid and angry at the world. Also he must be a wimp and twerp of serious order to be afraid to eat dinner on Easton Ave.
