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JerseySmarts.com

The Death of the Monmouth Mall

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Last year, the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, New Jersey closed. Admittedly, the Monmouth Mall was in poor condition for a very long time and the plan to close the interior mall had been in the works for years. The property is owned by the Kushner Companies and they’re planning to turn the site into an outdoor, walkable commerce area along with new housing (apartments and condos, I believe) along with dining, healthcare services, and more. Anyway, I took the pictures below in May 2024 and you can see how utterly empty the mall was back then. you can click any of these pictures to get a bigger view of the image.

Some of the existing stores have already moved to their new locations, including Barnes & Noble. For my part, the new format for the Barnes & Noble isn’t really for me. It’s beautiful, I guess, and there are a ton of books (and non-books, along with a café), but the space is definitely more of the Amazon style (books facing outward) and less of the classic library style that they had in their old footprint. So, since it’s pretty much Amazon, but with higher prices, I’ve been buying my books on Amazon since the new Barnes & Noble opened in November 2024. Kind of a bummer, although I’ve been to the Barnes & Noble in Freehold and Toms River and they’re both still in the old format, thankfully.

Just wanted to post this entry to share these pictures. As of this writing, the old Barnes & Noble is actually torn down except for the roof as is most of the interior mall, though the roof is gone from that part of the mall. It’s a little weird being able to look directly through where the mall used to be, but that’s how these big real estate developments work. I used to love going to the mall to walk around and see what the shops were selling – especially around the holidays. I don’t think I’ll be doing that in the new, outdoor format because, well, it gets cold out side!

What The Hoboken Mayor Really Wanted From All Of This Hoopla

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Pulled directly from the front page of the New York Times website a few weeks ago, I bring you exactly what Democratic Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer wanted from her unfounded comments regarding Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno and the state’s Sandy aid money. What you see below is a portion of the screenshot from the New York Times website that clearly states the only goal that Mayor Zimmer wanted to achieve in telling a falsehood about Lt. Governor Guadagno. Take a look for yourself:

dawn-zimmer-nyt

That’s right. All Mayor Zimmer wanted was to raise her profile in New Jersey politics. There is no question that Mayor Zimmer has aspirations for higher office in this state and – like a typical, untrustworthy politician – she warped reality to elevate her name recognition. What I want to know, though, is why she hasn’t responded to legitimate questions being brought up by the only major mainstream news personality that thought to investigate her claims – Megan Kelly. Take a look:

What gives, Mayor Zimmer? Stop running and answer these questions! Or, do you already know that if you answer honestly it throws your entire scheme over the edge and immediately eliminates any credibility that you have?

Remember this cowardice my fellow New Jersey voters…

Judge Janine Pirro Absolutely Destroys the Fake “Bridgegate” Scandal

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While the national, liberal media trumps up a scandal-that-doesn’t-exist in New Jersey and everyone in this state who didn’t vote for Governor Christie acts like this is the biggest story to hit the state since Hurricane Sandy, those of us with independent minds and nonpartisan leanings continue to shake our heads at our fellow man. Not only is this not a scandal in any way, type, or form, but it’s disheartening to see people that we would otherwise consider intelligent individuals foam at the mouth because of the foundation-less bullshit that the biased media is spewing around Governor Christie.

Cue Janine Pirro.

Like she always does, Judge Pirro absolutely wrecked the foundation of sand that this false “scandal” lies on and exposed the real political motives of the New Jersey elite law enforcement group and the dirty, underhanded connection to the Attorney General’s office. And on top of that, she compares the Attorney General’s office and their reaction to this nonexistent bridge scandal in New Jersey to the biggest political scandal of our lifetimes (mark my words on that one, by the way) – the Internal Revenue Service being used as an attack dog for partisan politics.

Listen up as the Judge explains reality here, folks:

Now, for those of you who saw that the Judge works for FOX News and immediately you heard a little voice in your head saying, “Ugh! Of course they’re going to defend him,” you’re an idiot. You are the very type of brainwashed fool that the biased national media is thriving off of right now. And for you others who went into watching that video thinking, “I don’t care what this Judge says, Governor Christie almost ruined the whole of New Jersey because of this bridge thing,” well, you’re just a fool. Get with the program. It was a traffic jam caused by a dope in the Governor’s administration that he fired and took responsibility for in the process.

That’s called leadership, you dummies.

I know we haven’t seen leadership in our national and state politics for seemingly decades, but that’s what it looks like! But then again, I expect that if you went into this short blog entry and video with an already-biased view, then you either didn’t make it down this far or you’re currently foaming at the mouth. And for that, I pity you.

Why Senator Barbara Buono Was A Terrible Gubernatorial Candidate

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Where to start on this one… might as well start at the beginning and clearly preface this entry with what should be obvious: These comments are my own opinion and whether you like them or not doesn’t particularly interest me. I’m not a reporter nor do I have to adhere to a journalistic standard. I’m just a guy with a blog who likes to write and today I’m writing about politics in our great state of New Jersey.

Last night, Governor Chris Christie easily coasted to reelection along with his Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno. This was an interesting election, but not for the reasons that people typically find interesting in statewide elections. For example, the national media tried to make this a referendum on the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) and a straw poll on whether Democrats would jump the aisle to vote for a strong Republican leader. Those of us in New Jersey know that the national media doesn’t know what they’re talking about most of the time. Yesterday’s election had exactly nothing to do with Obamacare. Nothing. Not one single thing – at all. The election yesterday – and Governor Christie’s huge landslide victory – had everything to do with the way he handled the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Tangentially related to Governor Christie’s huge win last night is the way he provided strong, reasoned leadership after his predecessor absolutely destroyed our state’s economy and budget. Also, the Governor’s ultra-intelligent responses to spiteful, local teachers who tried to treat him like an insolent child gave voice to the vast majority of New Jerseyans who cannot stand the power that our state’s teachers’ union has built up over the many years of Democratic control in New Jersey.

But those are reasons why Governor Christie won the election. In no particular order, let’s look at why Senator Buono was a terrible candidate:

Absolutely No Clear, Cohesive Message
Anytime Senator Buono was asked about her platform, she couldn’t give a cogent answer that provided a long-term vision and intermediate steps to get there. In short, Senator Buono’s platform was, “Governor Christie is bad. I’m good. Vote for me!” That game doesn’t play well in New Jersey because we’re too smart for that rubbish.

Bending Over Backwards for the Teachers’ Union
The one message that Senator Buono was clear on was that she would do whatever the teachers’ union wanted her to do. It was true that in years past a (Democratic) candidate had to do whatever the teachers’ union told them to do. However, if Governor Christie has made anything clear it’s that the masses love teachers and love education, but they absolutely hate the vitriol and hate that is spewed from our biased, angry, spiteful teachers’ union. Let me restate that to paraphrase what Governor Christie said during his speech at the Republican National Convention in 2012: Republicans believe in teachers, Democrats believe in teachers’ unions. New Jerseyans are done with statewide elected officials who will do whatever the teachers’ union wants them to do. We want to help teachers actually teach kids – not hear the lies of a union that is years behind any semblance of relevancy.

She Was Too Angry And Too Muddled
After she lost last night, Senator Buono was about as muddled as a candidate could be in the wake of such a commanding defeat. She struck out against her own party (a huge political no-no) and what she suggested were elements actively working against her during the campaign. Give me a break. Apparently for Senator Buono when a Democrat independently assesses her credentials against Governor Christie and determines the Governor is the right person to vote for, then they are turning their backs on their party. If that’s not the biggest crock of crap that I’ve ever heard, then I’m living in Russia right now! What’s worse – after she lost last night she randomly tried to make the entire election about breaking a “good old boys” club by bringing in some of the comments from then-Senator Hillary Clinton’s concession speech during the 2008 Presidential election. Really? Sexism in New Jersey? Does Senator Buono even know the political history of the state that she ran to be the Governor of yesterday? Has she not heard of Governor Christine Todd Whitman? Or what about the fact that since we instituted the Lieutenant Governor position a few years ago we’ve only ever had women run for the position? Do I even need to get into the myriad women who are the chief executives of various state agencies?

An uneven balance of anger, kowtowing to equally angry unions, and having absolutely no message is what made Senator Buono a terrible candidate.

There Are Evangelizers In Our Midst… Even in Monmouth County, New Jersey

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While the power was out for the last several days, I found myself spending time at a lot of local stores. No, I wasn’t there to buy stuff. I was there to keep warm! Look, when it’s cold out and you don’t have any heat – you’ll do what you have to do to stay warm. For me, that included going to the local Barnes & Noble and reading books (which is something that I do anyway), walking around the local Walmart, and spending time walking around Wegmans (okay I admit it – I bought some stuff for my car while I was at Wegmans).

That’s the base of information that you need to know for this entry. I’ll add this one, crucial piece of information: given that there is near total devastation in many of New Jersey’s shore communities due to the recent super storm and blizzard, there are a lot of out-of-state people up here helping out at a variety of different companies. For example, I’ve seen utility workers from down south (who are running circles around the New Jersey teams, by the way). I’ve also seen insurance adjusters from out-of-state helping homeowners with their claims.

It’s a group effort to recover here in New Jersey.

With that information out of the way, the title of this entry suggests that there are evangelizers among us – even in Monmouth County! Here’s a story that I sent to some of my friends after spending some time warming up and reading a book at the local Barnes & Noble three nights ago. I think you’ll enjoy this:

I’ve been sitting at Barnes & Noble for about 30 minutes and this insurance adjuster – I can tell he’s not from around here by his accent – was sitting across from me the entire time doing some work. I paid no mind to him – I was just flipping between my cell phone and my NOOK.

Anyway, the guy just gathered his things and got ready to leave. When he was ready to go he came over to me and said, “Sir?” I looked up and said, “Yes.”

He said, “Can I tell you something?” I said, “Yeah.”

He said, “Do you know Jesus Christ?” I said, “Yes.”

He said, “Well, his real name is Jehovah. It’s Yahweh. And he’s coming back soon and I just wanted to tell you that he loves you. Just wanted to tell you that he’s coming back and that he loves you.”

I said, “Thank you.”

And he said, “Alright. Have a good night.” And he walked out of the store.

I’m compelled to write this experience on the blog because this type of stuff just doesn’t happen too often in New Jersey. We’re a state with a lot of skeptical people; we have people who are automatically apprehensive towards those that they don’t know. I’ve visited the South many times and it’s a bit disorienting when you’re walking on the street and random strangers greet you with a genuine, “Good afternoon. How do you do today?” It always stops me in my tracks until I get used to it again. That type of forward communication doesn’t happen in New Jersey unless it’s one person looking at another person the wrong way until someone cracks and says, “What are you looking at?”

It’s our way of life in this state. Don’t judge us.

But I had two immediate reactions to this guy coming up to me and saying what he said. First, I immediately felt warmed up in my spiritual heart. I don’t know about you all out there in internet land, but I go to church each Sunday and on Holy Days and I enjoy going to church. I didn’t always enjoy going to church, but I do now and I hope that I will continue to enjoy going to church. So when this person came up to me to tell me things that I pretty much already know and believe in from the teachings of my church – it just felt good.

Second, as I felt warmed up I began to feel better about the horrible situation that I found myself in with no electricity and a cold home to go back to that night. Hey, Jesus loves me – what else do I need, right? 🙂

And the third nearly automatic reaction that I had to this guy was a very small voice in my head saying, “What’s his angle? What’s he up to? Keep an eye on him as he leaves the store and make sure he doesn’t hang around. If he follows you home, drive to the police station instead. Maybe you should confront him outside and see what his deal is. I don’t know if I trust him. He did reference Jesus, but who is he?”

Hey, I’m from New Jersey – I’m skeptical about people sometimes!

Anyway, it was an interesting encounter and an overall good message. Over the last few days, I’ve thought about this message and this guy’s confidence and lack of fear in delivering it. Jesus Christ is coming back and he loves you.

Now that’s a pretty uplifting message if there ever was one!