Letter: You can't Pass Blame For Empty Storefronts

The letter posted below is in response to a letter posted both here and on the Asbury Park Press website. I found the rebuttal to the rebuttal interesting and made a valid point:



The Oct. 7 letter responding to the lack of vision and deficit of business sense by the Republican leadership in Middletown, “Letter distorted picture of Middletown businesses,” missed the point.

Of course businesses move on for various reasons. That is not the whole issue. The concern is for the extended time these dozens of storefronts remain empty like the old Hess station on Route 35 and the old Shell station on Leonardville Road. The concern is for the many sale/rent/lease signs all over town, leading to more empty storefronts and businesses, and adding to the overwhelming look of despair in town.

A perfect example of a deficit of business sense is the new Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Where will the people shop who visit and work there? The obvious choice will be to travel to the newly developed Alcatel/Lucent site in Holmdel with its restaurants, retail stores, bank, hotel, library and so on.

Or the multitude of people who go to Sloan can just travel down Laurel Avenue (again into Holmdel) to meet their needs. Undoubtedly, the path to Middletown under Republican leadership leads nowhere. Its lack of vision is unmistakable on Route 36. The highway is near gridlock during the summer months with people heading to the ocean, but what does Middletown have to offer? Not much.

It’s disingenuous for the letter writer to pass the blame when the Republicans have been the local governing body for more than 30 years. What does their Economic Development Committee do? Not much.

Richard Levine

Middletown

Letter: Closed and Abandoned Businesses Sign Of Lack Of Leadership

The expressed opinions or views of this letter does not necessarily represent the opinion of the MiddletownMike blog:

Betsy Ross Farm Market

What the heck is going on in Middletown? It looks like the town is shutting down. There are so many businesses that have closed and many more are for lease or rent.

Betsy Ross Farm Market and the Gulf station at Wilson Avenue, Crustini (a pizza place), Werner Dodge, Enterprise Rent A Car, Bath Fitters and Ryan’s Ice Cream on Route 36 have all closed within the last year. The Depot Inn closed and the Wild Scallion has been closed for years. These businesses are within 2 miles of each other.

Junction Getty station

In the Junction, the Getty station closed as did the cigar store, the nail salon and the children’s consignment store. The old Shell gas station across from Carvel on Leonardville Road has been abandoned for decades and is a disgrace to our town.

Head over to Route 35 and you will see that Pathmark, Steak and Ale, Friendly’s and Pizza Hut are closed. There are other businesses closed too, including but not limited to Bayshore Music Center and the old Hess station by Carraba’s that was abandoned decades ago. These closed businesses are among the multiple for sale/lease/rent properties in town.

Steak & Ale

So what the heck is going on in Middletown? What’s going on has everything to do with the Republican leadership for the past 20 plus years. Their lack of vision and deficit of business sense is shutting down Middletown. Will the last one out please shut off the lights?

Paul J Jansen

Middletown



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Here are  a few more pictures of empty or abandoned businesses around Middletown.

Wild Scallions

Rt 36, Gulf station

Rt 36, Werner Dodge

Napoli Boy's (Ryan's) Ice Cream

Junction building, across from St. Mary's 

Rt 35 Navesink, Bank of America

Computer World, Rt 35

Rt 35,Steak & Ale

Closed Hess Station, Rt 35