Asbury Park has always had a lot to say. It just hasn't had a dedicated place to say it, at least not in your inbox.

That changes today. The AP Current is a free bi-weekly community newsletter written for the people who live here, work here, and love this city. Every issue you'll get local news worth knowing, events worth showing up for, and the people and places that make AP what it is.

This is Issue #1. We're glad you're here.

If you've ever wondered who actually controls what gets built on the Asbury Park waterfront, the answer involves a 2002 redevelopment agreement that has governed the waterfront ever since. The original deal gave sweeping development rights to what was then Asbury Partners, LLC, a company that later defaulted, leaving iStar Financial to take control in 2009. The retail portion of the waterfront has since been managed by a separate company, Madison Marquette. Critics have long called the arrangement too developer-friendly; supporters credit it with rescuing a city that was in serious decline.

In March 2026, the City Council voted to bring in independent counsel, law firm Archer and Greiner P.C., to take a fresh look at that agreement from the ground up. The city's own announcement described the original 2002 deal as one that set out sweeping plans to renovate Convention Hall, the Casino, and the Power Plant, plans that remain largely unfulfilled more than two decades later. Read the city's full statement here. Nothing changes overnight, but this is the kind of institutional review that can set the stage for renegotiation. We'll be watching.

In January 2026, Madison Marquette applied for a permit to demolish the Casino breezeway, the covered walkway connecting the boardwalk to the street, constructed in 1929. The move drew immediate backlash from city officials, state legislators, and residents. Preservation New Jersey flagged it as an urgent risk. The City of Asbury Park released a pointed statement calling out Madison Marquette's history of unfulfilled redevelopment commitments.

By February, Madison Marquette reversed course, announcing the breezeway would be restored and preserved rather than torn down. A victory, but the episode made one thing clear: the future of Asbury Park's most iconic boardwalk structures is not guaranteed, and the people making decisions about them are not always the ones who live here. The broader push for state historic tax credits to fund restoration of Convention Hall, the Paramount Theater, and the Casino building continues. We'll keep you posted as that process moves forward.

13th Annual Asbury Park Restaurant Tour
Sunday, April 26 · Noon to 8 PM
The biggest single-day food event of the year returns with 30+ restaurants, one wristband, and this year benefits the Mercy Center Food Pantry right here in AP. Buy tickets at asburyparkchamber.com

Made and Sold in Asbury Park Marketplace
Saturday, April 25 · Berkeley Ocean Front Hotel · Noon to 4 PM
Local makers selling goods made right here in the city. cityofasburypark.com

Asbury Park Vintage Market
Saturday, April 25 · Stone Pony Summer Stage · Noon to 5 PM
Outdoor vintage goods with the Stone Pony as your backdrop. Free admission. apvintagemarket on instagram.

Spring Bazaar
May 9–10 · Convention Hall · Noon to 5 PM
Makers, artists, and local vendors taking over Convention Hall for Mother’s Day weekend. asburyparkbazaar.com

Asbury Park's mural scene is one of the most photographed in New Jersey, and most people don't know the artists behind the work, including myself. Starting this issue, we're changing that. Each issue, one mural, one story.

"Never Turn Your Back on the Ocean"
Ann Lewis · Historic Steam Plant Building · Originally painted 2015, restored 2022

The building has been silent since World War II. Built in the 1920s, the Asbury Park Steam Plant once powered the boardwalk and surrounding blocks, a piece of infrastructure most visitors walk past without a second glance. Its abandoned windows and industrial brick have become one of the most unexpected canvases on the Jersey Shore.

In 2015, Brooklyn and Detroit-based artist Ann Lewis became the third artist to join the Wooden Walls Project when she created a site-specific 50-foot mural across those very windows. The piece is a maze-like composition with a message woven into its design, a response to ocean plastic pollution, at a pace Lewis describes as one million plastic bags consumed per minute. Hidden within the work is the phrase Protect Her Glory, an ode to her Aunt Glory who taught her to survive Atlantic waves on nearby beaches and whose words, never turn your back on the ocean, became the title of the piece.

When Mother Nature took some of the panels, Lewis returned in 2022 to create a new version in the same spirit. The evolving style reflects nearly a decade of growth in her practice. The message did not change.

Read more about Ann's work and the restoration in this feature from the Wooden Walls Project and this interview with the artist.

Asbury Park deserves to be talked about. That's the whole reason this exists.

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