Inquirer.com – Zurich DR

Author: Amy S. Rosenberg

  • Avalon will allow outdoor live music one hour later at Gully’s

    Avalon will allow outdoor live music one hour later at Gully’s

    Avalon has changed its tune.

    Over objections from nearby residents, the affluent Cape May County shore town voted to soften liquor license restrictions for the popular new bar Gully’s, allowing one more hour of outdoor music, until 9 p.m.

    The vote followed an outcry from the town’s locals, old-timers, and music lovers after the band Three and One was told to stop playing at 8 p.m. July 17, two hours earlier than advertised, after complaints from neighbors and a visit from Avalon police.

    The 8 p.m. cutoff for outdoor music was a special condition included in the liquor licenses of Gully’s and other bars in town.

    Avalon shut down a live band at Gully’s at 8 p.m.

    But at its August council meeting last Wednesday, the council adopted new restrictions on Gully’s that gives the bar one more hour for outdoor live music.

    Gully’s had been appealing those conditions to the state’s Division of Alcohol Beverage Control before the resolution’s adoption.

    Councilman Jamie McDermott downplayed the consequences of extending the music one more hour, and said the noise was “part of living within the two blocks of the commercial business district.”

    “It’s a summer disruption,” he said. “We’re talking about eight Saturday nights that are going to go until nine o’clock.

    “For me, for a summer town, that’s not Sea Isle, that’s the seashore at its best,” he said.

    According to the resolution, Gully’s has retained a sound engineer to help with noise volume from its bands.

    “Each band will be given the sound engineer’s phone number so that the engineer can approve the band’s system before it is set up,” the resolution states.

    In addition, “bands will be warned that they will be cut off and not paid if they do not keep the volume reasonable.”

    The council noted that Gully’s space is mostly outdoors, unlike other bars in town with bigger indoor footprints for music, and that the borough itself has outdoor music until 9 p.m. at its public concerts.

    The extension to 9 p.m. was characterized as a temporary solution for the rest of the summer. The issue will be revisited before next summer.

    Gully’s has agreed to withdraw its appeal, for now, Nicole Curio, the municipal solicitor, told the council.

    The hanging candied bacon served over grits and Gully’s blooming potato at Gully’s on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Avalon, NJ.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    The resolution requires Gully’s bands to have smaller sound systems, no 18-inch or larger bass speakers, and to monitor their volume. The restaurant announced the change on its Facebook page.

    The resolution also states that concerned neighbors will be given a number to text if they have issues with the volume.

    Gully’s has also agreed to reposition the stage so that bands are facing the building rather than the neighborhood, the resolution states.

    City Council President Greg “Chet” Johnson said at the meeting that the town needed to ensure that all the new people investing in summer homes had places to go once they arrived in Avalon.

    “The town has changed,” Johnson said, addressing residents who had objected to the new regulation. “It’s a more affluent community that’s coming here. You’ve had great appreciation in your property. This is going to continue to grow and boom. People that come down now, they’re not bringing their groceries. They want to go to restaurants. They want entertainment.”

    The popularity of Gully’s, in a space where a previous business had not flourished, showed that it was something the town as a whole supported, he said.

    Larry Hayes, a neighbor who lives about 500 yards away and has complained about the noise, said he was opposed to the new regulations. Others said Avalon was caving to Gully’s.

    Council Vice President Sam Wierman said it was unrealistic for neighbors near Avalon’s commercial district to want “everything shut off” at 8 p.m.

    “That’s the reality of living,” he said. “I don’t think 9 p.m. is unreasonable. It’s a middle ground.”

    Curio, the solicitor, noted that the resolution did not address other events at Gully’s, like its amplified Monday minnow races, which were also receiving attention from PETA, the animal rights group.

    Resident Jody Kyle, meanwhile, noted a noise issue she thought was worse than Gully’s: The noise from the nearby Wawa, which she said went on until midnight or 2 a.m. some nights.

    “It’s underaged kids who belong at home,” she told council.

  • 🤳 Influenced at the beach | Down the Shore

    🤳 Influenced at the beach | Down the Shore

    The algorithm has been working overtime down the Shore, with influencers riding those waves of attention.

    There was Philly mom influencer Cait Vogel, whose video of herself walking to the beach in Sea Isle complaining about her $10,000 rental — where she still had to bring sheets, toilet paper, and her own coffee — went viral on TikTok and landed her in the New York Post (while still on vacation with her parents, she noted in a later post). She also lamented that despite her usually carefully curated posts, the one that went viral featured her in an oversized faux-bikini T-shirt.

    “Basically, we’re paying $10,000 to camp,” she said to what grew to more than 600,000 views. The post sparked debate on Jersey Shore rental prices and comparison vacations. (See our annual take on that discussion here.)

    Besides Vogel, this summer’s breakout influencers included Indy Atlantic City, who chronicles life on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, with regular updates on A.C. Batman. There’s Destiny Benway, whose amusing day in the life of a Jersey Shore lifeguard features an awkward, blurred-out interview with her beach patrol standmate, also her ex.

    And working hard with videos of himself standing in a clear and sparkling ocean in Lavallette is Jersey Shore Marcus.

    Consider me influenced; be right back after a dip in the ocean.

    Meanwhile, there’s a luau update. Last week, we talked about the Deauville Inn canceling its annual luau because of a complaint by a neighbor. The Deauville, which dates to 1881 but has been under new ownership since 2019, characterized it as a “premature noise complaint.”

    However, Upper Township’s administrator, James Van Zlike, tells me the township planning board limited the Inn in 2021 to six outdoor live musical events a year, and those are restricted to Memorial Day, Fourth of July, and Labor Day weekends. So the luau, as advertised, would have potentially been in violation of that resolution.

    Van Zlike says there was a complaint made to the township, but that the Inn canceled last week’s event on its own. Neighbors, meanwhile, are furious about the Deauville’s widely shared Facebook post, which they say unfairly puts the spotlight on them, not the Deauville. (The Deauville’s promise to give refunds and “Karen Krush” drinks to ticket holders also didn’t help.)

    📮 With time running out on Summer 2026 (but not until Sept. 7, practically Halloween), we’re pivoting from complaints and looking for solutions. What are some of the ways you would fix the Shore? Be specific! Let me know by replying to this email and I’ll include your most interesting responses in a future newsletter and possibly an Inquirer story.

    Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Send them to me here.

    🌊 Forecasters like NorEaster Nick were side-eyeing Tropical Storm Cristobal way out in the central subtropical Atlantic.

    — Amy S. Rosenberg (Follow me @amysrosenberg, on Instagram at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me here.)

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Join The Shore Line, our text message group, where you can message us and we’ll message you back.

    Shore talk

    🐟 A dearth of Atlantic menhaden may be behind a decline in osprey offspring and some osprey deaths.

    🏖️ Strathmere residents told council they oppose the proposed $10 beach tags. “We are not an elitist community.”

    🦋 Planting native species is gaining popularity. Terri Akman explains how Jersey Shore gardeners do it.

    🚰 Cape May, Woodbine water systems were targeted in a cyber attack.

    🎡 Ocean City community groups have filed suit challenging the designation of the old Wonderland Pier as an area in need of rehabilitation.

    🏀 New York Knicks star and Philly native Mikal Bridges is fighting with Avalon’s floodplain manager over whether he can store gym equipment in his Shore house garage.

    💸 Bart Blatstein’s Showboat Hotel is under threat of foreclosure after a lender sued to recoup $13.4 million in debt.

    📈 The African American Heritage Museum of Southern New Jersey received a $100,000 donation from the Mack family to hire an executive director and move into a larger space in the Tanger Outlets in Atlantic City.

    What to eat/What to do

    🍔 Michael Solomonov of Zahav and Federal Donuts fame got maybe a bit carried away by his cheeseburger and called the Margate Burger Bar “the best restaurant in America.” (The veggie burger is great, too.)

    🍦 Richman’s Ice Cream is throwing a block party Saturday in Brigantine. Mojoz Gummicone, the first cone designed for water ice, will be there.

    🛟 The South Jersey Lifeguard Championships are Friday in Avalon, featuring the debut of the newly renamed Murray Wolf Singles Row in memory of the legendary Beach Patrol chief.

    🎸 Phish is returning to Atlantic City this fall.

    🎹 Atlantic City’s events this weekend feature a lot of musical nostalgia, including the Marshall Tucker Band at Borgata; Howard Jones, Wang Chung, the English Beat, and Modern English, also at Borgata; Widespread Panic at Hard Rock; and the Stray Cats at Ovation Hall. Melvin Seals, who played organ in the Jerry Garcia Band, will be at Tropicana.

    Shore snapshot

    David Kyle, vice president of Custom Mobile Food Equipment, in Hammonton, N.J., stands near one of his completed food carts on July 21. Douglass Creamery is a well-known candy company in Wildwood.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer

    🧠 Trivia time

    I stumped everyone last week with the shower question. The current price for a shower at Daytrippers in North Wildwood is $7 for an adult, $3 for kids (up from $5 a few years ago).

    This week’s question: Avalon used to round up underaged drinkers in a white school bus until a judge ordered them not to. Was the bus nicknamed:

    A. The Magic Bus

    B. The Teen Tram

    C. The Sober Van

    D. The Call Your Parents Express

    If you think you know the answer, email me here. If you ever rode on this vehicle, also email me. First one gets a shout-out in next week’s newsletter.

    Ask Down the Shore

    A reader asked what effect all the teardowns of smaller cottages were having on the Shore. We asked our Shore Line texters. Here’s a sampling of the replies, lightly edited.

    • The classic old shore homes are disappearing. It is sad. Most of the new homes look alike. We should try to protect the old charm. It can’t be replicated.
    • The shore is already overbuilt and has been for years. Adding ginormous sized houses only depletes the natural resources that make the shore unique. When my family drove to the shore when I was a kid in the ’60s you could smell the sea air before you could see anything that looked like the shore on the Expressway. I remember that smell fondly (mostly) and miss it greatly. I can’t pinpoint when it stopped. It gradually decreased in the ’90s and now it no longer exists.
    • It is unrealistic to expect people not to tear down older homes. Yes there will be more traffic but maybe that will be self limiting.

    Your Shore memory

    Cathy Phillips sent us this memory awhile back. It’s just lovely, and sorry it took so long to publish it, Cathy!

    I now live near Oak Island beach in N.C. but I was practically born on the beach in North Wildwood 77 years ago. Family lore has it that I picked up a sand crab and tried to stuff it in my mouth at about nine months old. My mom struggled with seven kids living in Kensington but got us to the shore as much as she could. I have a cherished photo of her with her Mom when she was about 10 years old, circa 1920, taken around 17th Street. Her mom is in an old fashioned bathing costume. We rented old rooming houses all over when I was a kid. We’re heading to the shore now in advance of a family wedding. Love reading the stories of others both old memories and new.

    Thank you Cathy! Send us your Shore memory! In 200 words, tell us how the Shore taps into something deep for you, and we will publish them in this space during the summer.

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

  • Ocean City community groups have filed a lawsuit challenging the Wonderland rehabilitation designation

    Ocean City community groups have filed a lawsuit challenging the Wonderland rehabilitation designation

    Four community groups in Ocean City filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to void City Council’s June 25 decision to designate the old Gillian’s Wonderland Pier as “in need of rehabilitation.”

    That vote started a negotiation with developer Eustace Mita, the owner of the property who has been seeking approval to build a seven-story, 242-room hotel on the site.

    Mita said earlier this month he is submitting a revised proposal for a hotel on the 2.42-acre property. His initial proposal called for a luxury hotel that preserved the Ferris wheel, carousel, and some kiddie rides.

    Hotels are not a permitted use under current zoning, requiring either variances or a negotiation under a rehabilitation designation. Mita sought the rehabilitation route.

    He said earlier this month that it was no longer viable to restore or replace the Ferris wheel.

    The lawsuit notes that Wonderland Pier served for generations as “a civic anchor for the northern end of the Boardwalk,” and that the pier “has been a focal point of the City’s identity as a low-rise family-friendly resort community.”

    The groups filing suit in Cape May County Superior Court were two neighborhood groups, Plaza Place Civic Association and Beach Watch Motel Condominium Association, the government watchdog group Fairness in Taxes, and Ocean City 2050, a group that has been advocating for an alternative to Mita’s luxury hotel proposal.

    Jack Gutenkunst (left), Marie Crawford, and her husband, Richard, with Shiloh, a 9-year-old soft-coated wheaten terrier, walk along Plaza Place, in Ocean City on Feb. 3, 2026. They live in the historic neighborhood right behind the site of the old Wonderland Pier and are fighting against the proposed development of a hotel on the boardwalk property.Tim Hawk / For The Inquirer

    Defendants are the City of Ocean City and the City Council.

    “This lawsuit was a difficult but necessary decision to make,” said Jack Gutenkunst of Plaza Place Civic Association, in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “Council’s Wonderland rehabilitation designation is deeply flawed and seeks to improperly strip away important planning protections that residents have long relied upon.”

    The lawsuit alleges that Mayor Jay Gillian’s failure to recuse himself from Council’s Wonderland discussions constituted “substantial financial and ethical conflicts of interest.”

    As a hotel looms, tiny neighborhood fears losing its small-town feel

    Gillian, whose family operated Wonderland for 65 years, sold the property to Mita in 2021 but continued to operate the amusement park under a lease arrangement. He made the decision to close Wonderland in 2024. The lawsuit notes financial entanglements that remain between the mayor and Mita.

    Reached by text message, Gillian declined to comment on the lawsuit.

    “The city cannot comment on pending litigation,” Doug Bergen, public information officer for Ocean City, said by email.

    Before closing Wonderland, Mayor Jay Gillian was on shaky financial footing

    The lawsuit also alleges that the designation failed to satisfy the state’s legal requirements under New Jersey’s Local Redevelopment and Housing law.

    “This lawsuit is not about stopping progress,” said Howie Atkinson of the Beach Watch group, in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “But no project is important enough to justify abandoning transparency, ignoring conflicts of interest, or shutting the public out of the progress.”

    The groups said the lawsuit should not stop the city from continuing to examine recommendations by its Boardwalk subcommittee. City Council tabled action related to the subcommittee at its last meeting due to the pending lawsuit.

  • 🌺 Let the luau play on? | Down the Shore

    🌺 Let the luau play on? | Down the Shore

    Last week’s newsletter highlighting the band Three and One getting the hook midway through their outdoor 6 to 10 p.m. set at Gully’s in Avalon prompted a lot of soul-searching.

    Even though Avalon liquor licenses have limited outdoor music past 8 p.m. for years (not far behind is Sea Isle, where outdoor bars end music at 9 p.m.), many people felt that it illustrated something essential, and frustrating, about Avalon and the Shore’s changing identity.

    Meanwhile, in Strathmere this week, the Deauville Inn said it was canceling its annual luau because a neighbor had complained before the event.

    “Apparently tropical vibes are louder than we thought,” the historic inn wrote on Facebook, citing a “premature noise complaint” from a neighbor who is “not a fan of live music, fun or people enjoying themselves.”

    The luau, sponsored by Kona Big Wave, was due to begin at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday; tickets for dinner and the show were listed as $117.23 plus tax. A Kona Big Wave Luau at Congress Hall on Aug. 20 in Cape May (no tickets required) looks like a go. (Deauville events director Judy Brenna Felicetta declined further comment).

    What is the future of the freewheeling bar and music scene that has defined summers down the Shore, in Asbury Park legendarily, of course, but also in Avalon and elsewhere? Have things become too tightly controlled by the demands of wealthy homeowners who have scooped up real estate and turned the islands into noise-canceled enclaves?

    Marc Ziss runs the Facebook page Bands in Avalon (and beyond). Last summer, he took me on a tour of the old Avalon, lamenting the fading of the live music scene.

    He wrote:

    Saw your piece on Gully’s and was reminded of our walk a while back where we saw the changes in Avalon. This year, like a breath of fresh air, a new venue tries to rekindle the soul of old Avalon, but new Avalon slaps it down and says that’s enough out of you!

    Mike Hudome wrote:

    What’s really going on here is people are searching for the Avalon of the ’70’s and ’80’s that no longer exists. They’ll never find it, and it is impossible to replicate.

    Ira Dosovitz wrote:

    I’ve been coming to Avalon for 40 years, and have seen the place transition from a somewhat casual, family-oriented beach town to a more corporate vibe destination. Having said that, I still feel that Avalon is right to place strictures on the music at Gully’s. Avalon is still a family town, and that should be respected.

    📮 What is the future of music down the Shore? Has there been a culture shift? Where do you go to hear music? (I’m a fan of the free music series on the A.C. Boardwalk at Kennedy Plaza, where jazz returns this week.) Related, is $117.23 per person too much for a dinner and luau performance? Let me know what you think by replying to this email and I’ll include your most interesting responses.

    Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Pet peeves for us to opine on? Send them to me here.

    🌞 Forecasters said it would rain all week but except for Monday, it’s been lovely. So just come down already.

    — Amy S. Rosenberg (Find me at @amysrosenberg, or on Instagram at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me here.)

    Shore talk

    🎳 Avalon’s biggest home has been greenlit by borough and state officials: a whopping 17,694-square-foot house and carriage house to be built on Avalon’s high dunes at 5475 Dune Drive. In an intra-island twist, the builder is Eustace Mita, the developer who has proposed a luxury hotel on the site of Ocean City’s old Wonderland Pier.

    Mita says the house is not for his personal use. He’s looking for a buyer who will appreciate amenities like a bowling alley, recording studio, golf simulator, and cold plunge. LeBron? Taylor? More on that house here.

    ☀️ The Soleil, a six-story hotel-condominium project at 11th and the boardwalk in Ocean City could break ground this fall, Bill Barlow reports.

    🚀 Corson’s Inlet State Park was closed for about four hours this week after a rocket-assisted supply line launcher was found on the beach, state officials said.

    🦀 Animal rights activists want Ocean City to use robot crabs instead of hermit crabs for its iconic Miss Crustacian Beauty Pageant and hermit crab races.

    🎠 Relics from Wonderland Pier are still available for purchase at Obnoxious Antiques.

    What to eat/What to do

    🎶 Atlantic City’s beloved summer Chicken Bone Beach free jazz on the Boardwalk series returns to Kennedy Plaza this week with Warren Wolf and Wolfpack and local artist Keith Hollis beginning at 7 p.m. Thursday. Full schedule here.

    🍸 Consider ordering a $1.1 million cocktail. It comes with a speedboat.

    🍅 Check out Hira Qureshi’s guide and map of the Jersey Shore’s best farmers markets.

    🍧 Here’s Hira’s report from Atlantic City’s water ice festival.

    😋 In other water ice news, Ventnor’s North Beach Creamery is now offering a chocolate black cherry flavor. That’s chocolate with black cherries in one flavor.

    😭 Visit the Wonderland Pier museum in the Promenade food court on the Ocean City Boardwalk through Aug. 9.

    Shore snapshot

    A variety of tomatoes on sale at the No Frills Farm tent at the West Cape May Farmers Market, on Tuesday, July 28, 2026.Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer

    Vocab lesson: sea gorse

    Not to be confused with seahorse, gorse (n) is a perennial, spiny shrub with green branches and shiny yellow flowers known to grow along coastlines, sometimes in an invasive fashion.

    See the Shore memory below for its use in an ode to Avalon.

    Ask Down the Shore: Ball playing

    We asked our text group, The Shore Line, about etiquette around playing ball on the beach. Two texters said they’d been hit in the face with Frisbees, and one lost a tooth! My personal pet peeve is those who throw a football in the ocean over the heads of bathers, but I’m sure it’s fun.

    Here’s a sample, lightly edited for clarity: Send your thoughts to us here.

    • Hello from Wildwood Crest! Our borough lifeguards maintain a very publicized posted rule about playing ball at the beach: only on the “Back Beach.”
    • I recently was sitting in a chair near the water’s edge and I got hit several times with either soccer balls or other throwable items. Most times the player apologized. It’s the beach, so you have to keep your head up and be on the defense at all times!
    • Many years ago a bunch of guys were playing Frisbee. The Frisbee hit me in the face along with the guy diving for it. I lost a tooth from the force of the hit and also needed root canal. They should be far from the crowds.
    • The beachgoer needs to relax. They are kids and we all did it as kids. It’s a public place and to expect kids not to be playing is ridiculous.

    🧠 Trivia time

    Reader Jacqui was first with the correct answer to last week’s water ice trivia question (Mento’s of course, which famously ended the free taste era with a sign: “Chocolate tastes like chocolate; lemon tastes like lemon.”

    This week:

    Bathhouses are vanishing at the Jersey Shore. Daytrippers, in North Wildwood, profiled by my colleague Jason Nark, charged just $5 for a shower in 2021.

    Is the price for a shower in 2026:

    A. $20 for adults, $5 for children under 42 inches.

    B. $7 for adults, $3 for kids.

    C. No change: $5.

    D. $10 for everyone.

    First correct answer gets a shout out.

    Your Shore memory: A poem

    Laurance Angelo submitted an ode, To Avalon.

    It is only a walk to the bridge/though now the carpet swirl of Spring-whipped sand/bites like a raid of mosquitoes.

    Once

    sun burned with the taste of salt,/the hours soft as baby waves/cool as dawn tide.

    Now

    gulls stall in air/to hang like fixtures overhead/sea gorse crumbles and hisses.

    the jettys like brown broken teeth/and broken too the half-shells/made a bracelet for the shore.

    So cold/I will go back.

    Send us your Shore memory! In poetry or prose, tell us how the Shore taps into something deep for you, and we will publish them in this space.

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

  • Wonderland developer is tearing down a $10M mansion in Avalon

    Wonderland developer is tearing down a $10M mansion in Avalon

    Wonderland developer Eustace Mita, whose proposal for a luxury seven-story hotel in Ocean City has drawn critics, is building an enormous spec house in the Avalon dunes that will be the borough’s largest home.

    Mita says the 17,694-square-foot home at 5475 Dune Drive is not for his personal use, but rather a house built by his Achristavest construction company that will be offered for sale. There is no designated buyer yet, he said.

    “This is a spec home,” he said by telephone. “Is it the biggest home in Avalon? Yes, absolutely. It’s not just one big home. It’s a home with a carriage house.”

    Construction will require additional sand trucked in to fortify the dune for the property, which will include a 14,000-square-foot main house connected to a 3,000-square-foot carriage house.

    It replaces a 7,800-square-foot home that will be torn down, said Mita, the owner of the Icona brand of Shore hotels. His company bought the property for $10.3 million in 2024.

    Mita said he will continue to personally use a home on the beach in Ocean City, at 28th and Wesley.

    Two stories in the new house will be subterranean and three will be above ground, he said. The below-ground floors will include a bowling alley, golf simulator, indoor pool, home theater, recording studio, and cold plunge.

    He said has secured state environmental proposals and emphasized that the house, because it will occupy the same footprint as the existing house, did not need a zoning variance from Avalon borough.

    Avalon’s impressively high and vast dune system has 11 homes. The largest existing house in the dunes is at 5299 Dune Drive and owned by the heirs to the Utz potato chip family business. It is 12,631 square feet.

    The Utz family had to go to court for final approval for their 40-room house, over the objections of environmental groups seeking to preserve one of the last remaining high dune systems on the East Coast.

    In Mita’s case, the Avalon planning and zoning board approved the plans June 9, with the only notes being that the sand brought in should be “clean, uncontaminated, and free of hazardous substances.”

    At the July borough council meeting, several residents expressed concern about the size of the project and its impact on the dunes.

    Mita said the additional sand was requested by state environmental officials to fortify the dunes and will be placed on the street side near the retaining wall, not “onto the dunes” as some residents feared.

    “I didn’t even need variances,” he said. “The renderings make it look overpowering.”

    The additional sand, he said, was mandated by CAFRA (Coastal Area Facility Review Act) regulations.

    “I can’t build one inch into the existing toe of the dunes,” he said. “I have to build a retaining wall as to not to encroach on the dune. It preserves the integrity.”

    Eustace Mita, arriving at the Ocean City Music Pier for a city planning board meeting on Jan. 7, 2026, about the old Wonderland Pier site he owns.Amy S. Rosenberg / staff

    Residents expressed concerns at a recent Avalon council meeting.

    “It’s just a ruin, a ruin of the dunes,” said Elaine Scattergood, who said borough officials were being misled by claims that the property would stay within the footprint and elevation of the existing house. “If the dunes were a child, I think the protective agency would have taken it away from us.”

    In Ocean City, those engaged in the back and forth over the Wonderland site also had a lot to say about Mita’s plan for Avalon’s high dunes.

    “His home looks bigger than the hotel he wants to build in O.C.,” said one Facebook commenter.

    “Barge the old home up to the Wonderland site,” said another. “Problem solved.”

    Mita said his company is currently building three beachfront spec homes at 77th in Avalon, and three beachfront homes at 116th Street in Stone Harbor.

    He said building a spec home of this size and expected sale price in the many tens of millions was “so risky.”

    Who would be a potential buyer?

    “LeBron James,” he mused. “Or Taylor Swift. She spent summers in Stone Harbor. There’s a recording studio. You can’t even buy a beach block lot in Avalon or Stone Harbor for $5 million.”

  • Artifacts from Gillian’s Wonderland Pier are still up for sale

    Artifacts from Gillian’s Wonderland Pier are still up for sale

    The vintage Gillian’s Wonderland Pier Canyon Falls Log Flume Bathing Guy is still up for grabs, with a $2,000 price tag.

    So is the 12-by-6-foot fiberglass Haunted Dark Ride Skeleton head, including the top hat and the skeletal hands that once gripped the front of the ride, for $8,500.

    Nearly two years after the iconic Ocean City, N.J., boardwalk amusement park closed down, and with the future of the site still uncertain, 20 of the kitschy and spooky disembodied artifacts from Wonderland remain unsold at Obnoxious Antiques in Burlington.

    Vintage Gillians Wonderland Pier Canyon Falls Log Flume Bathing Guy, priced at $2,000 at Obnoxious Antiques.Obnoxious Antiques

    John Polito of Obnoxious Antiques said the massive skeleton head and hands are the work of Bill Tracy, a noted and hugely influential creator of dark ride amusements.

    Much of the other work is the creation of former Wonderland staff artist Wayne Seddon.

    The relics were part of three truckloads hauled off for sale in late 2024 after the park shut down.

    Truckloads of Wonderland Pier relics for sale at Obnoxious Antiques

    The rotating Wonderland Pier letters sold for $10,000, and Obnoxious Antique’s website lists dozens of other pieces that have already sold, ranging from a Haunted House Moonshine Drunk Weasel to a Smiling Pier Lobster in a Trap to the Dark Ride Devil in a Cage. The sale prices are not listed.

    Polito is hoping another Halloween season will tempt buyers for the skeleton and the other dark ride props for sale, including a pair of coffin speakers ($600), an animated man in a closet ($1,150), and a spider automaton ($750).

    A pair of vintage Gillian’s Wonderland Pier Haunted Dark Ride Haunted House Mechanical Circus Clowns, priced at $1,750 for the pair at Obnoxious Antiques.Obnoxious Antiques

    Polito said about half the sold objects were sold to out-of-state buyers, but the other half “went back to Ocean City,” including the Monkey Band, which is on display with other Wonderland artifacts in the Boardwalk food court as a “Wonderland Pier Museum.”

    Some of the exterior figurines were bought by nearby Storybook Land in Egg Harbor Township.

    Polito says the $8,500 price tag for the skeleton and hands “is a steal,” and notes that they would be perfect for a committed Halloween house decorator.

    He estimates it cost $20,000 to create.

    “It’s heavy,” he said. “They would have to commit to it and they would have to really want it.”

    Ed Frischkorn, 30, holding the log flume miner from the now-defunct Gillian’s Wonderland Pier he purchased at Obnoxious Antiques in Burlington, N.J.Amy S. Rosenberg / staff

    Over objections from some nearby residents, Ocean City Council recently voted to designate the former Wonderland site at 600 Boardwalk in need of rehabilitation and will now negotiate with developer and owner Eustace Mita, who has proposed a seven-story luxury hotel on the site.

    Mita bought the site from Mayor Jay Gillian, who made the decision to close the beloved amusement park his family had owned for 65 years in October 2024.

    Mita’s original proposal called for restoring the Ferris wheel and historic carousel, and preserving several iconic kiddie rides from Wonderland.

    John Polito of Obnoxious Antiques with one of the men in the tub from the log flume ride at the now-defunct Wonderland Pier in Ocean City, N.J. Polito purchased three truckloads of relics that are now for sale at his warehouse on Route 130 in Burlington N.J.Amy S. Rosenberg / staff
  • They sold two Wildwood vacation condos, then found their dream split-level in Brigantine | How I Bought This House

    They sold two Wildwood vacation condos, then found their dream split-level in Brigantine | How I Bought This House

    The buyers: Nick Matteo, an accountant, and Sandy Matteo, a nurse, both 63.

    The house: A 2,282-square-foot split-level coastal colonial with 3 bedrooms and 2½ baths built in 1993.

    The price: Listed for $699,000; purchased for $650,000.

    The agent: Maria Sacco Handle, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach-Margate

    The ask: The Matteos were ready to sell the home in Willow Grove where they raised their family to fulfill the dream of moving year-round to the Shore. They wanted a place that their children and grandchildren would want to visit and that would combine their love of the Shore during the summer with enough year-round community appeal.

    “By the time I was 58, I was trying to convince my wife to move down there full time in Wildwood,” Nick said. “That took a lot of convincing.”

    Nick and Sandy Matteo wanted a home that combined their love of the Shore with enough community to keep it interesting all year long. Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer

    The search: The Matteos shared two condos with another family in Wildwood and initially focused on the Wildwoods in their search. But people kept talking to Sandy about the charms of Brigantine.

    “People were telling us that you’ll get much better value than you would in Wildwood,” Sandy said.

    They were very close to making an offer on a house in Wildwood, when Sandy decided they should drive back up the Garden State Parkway, down the Atlantic City Expressway, and over the bridge to Brigantine.

    “We looked at 10 houses in two days in Wildwood,” Nick said. “We found one we thought we liked, looked at it the second time, and put a bid in for $130,000 less than the asking price of $880,000. The offer never made it to the seller.”

    In Brigantine, they fell immediately in love with a split-level house facing the golf course with a for sale sign out front.

    “It was 5:30 p.m., and I looked on my phone and saw a couple places, and we drove by here,” Sandy said. “I said, ‘This is the one.’ ”

    They called the listing agent from out front of the home, and she offered to show it to them the next day. “I said, ‘No, we’re about to buy a house. Can you show it to us, you know, any chance tonight?” Sandy recalled.

    “She said, I’ll be there in 15 minutes.’”

    Nick and Sandy Matteo were in love at first sight with this Brigantine split-level. They called the real estate agent from the car. Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer

    The appeal: Although the house needed some upgrades, it immediately spoke to them, combining the Shore location, across from Brigantine’s golf course, with the sturdy bones of a year-round house. “We went from one split-level to another,” said Nick.

    “We came in and I saw the staircase, and the fact that it was all split-level, I just love that,” Sandy said.

    The deal: The house was listed for $699,999, and they offered $600,000. The seller came back at $650,000, which they accepted. The seller, whose sisters had lived in the house, later offered a $1,000 credit for the non-working oven.

    The money: Nick says that once he was able to sell the shared condos in Wildwood, one for $450,000 and the other for $569,000, the couple cleared enough money to start their search. They started with a budget of $800,000.

    Selling their family home in Willow Grove, which they’d bought in 1992 for $152,000, meant they would be able to pay off the mortgage soon after closing. But to get there, they first put 20% down, and the rest in a 6.25% mortgage. Once the money from the Willow Grove sale comes in (sale price was $640,000), Nick says they will pay off the Brigantine mortgage.

    “Brigantine was economical for us,” Nick said. “It will allow us to maybe buy other things, like a pontoon boat.”

    The move: They closed on the Brigantine house May 29 but didn’t make the full-time move until July 16, after their Willow Grove house sold. Sandy went down first with the movers.

    Life after close: The first week after they moved in, the drains backed up with seaweed and other unappealing things, requiring an urgent visit from the plumbers from Zoom Drain. The oven needs replacing, and the Matteos are awaiting the installation of a new deck, a hot tub, and new shrubbery out back. They’d like to freshen the facade and get to some other upgrades, like central air, but have discovered the near impossibility of getting contractors down the Shore in summer.

    The oven is one of the things that needs to be replaced or updated at Nick and Sandy Matteo’s Shore house. Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Inquirer

    Despite those challenges, the family is ecstatic. Their son, daughter-in-law, and 6-month-old grandson claimed a sunny upstairs room with a bay window, and everyone is raving about the view of the golf course and community garden across the street.

    “My kids are elated,” Nick said. “They want to come down every weekend. My daughter-in-law said, ‘I’m going to bring the baby, and I’m going to set up shop down there.’ That was just the home run.”

    They’ve been warned about Brigantine’s notorious buzzing greenheads, but otherwise think they’ve found a warm and active year-round community, with Atlantic City right over the bridge if they need any excitement. The beach is just a few blocks away.

    “I love it,” Sandy said. “It’s a true community.”

    Did you recently buy a home in the Philadelphia area or South Jersey? Share the story of how you did it. Email Inquirer real estate reporters at properties@inquirer.com.

  • In a reversal, New Jersey now says Pennsylvania residents should register their e-bikes in New Jersey if visiting

    In a reversal, New Jersey now says Pennsylvania residents should register their e-bikes in New Jersey if visiting

    Pennsylvanian e-bikers headed to the Shore, get ready for your appointment with New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission.

    In a reversal, the state agency now says out-of-state residents should register their e-bikes in New Jersey in order to legally ride them in New Jersey.

    Earlier, MVC spokesperson William Connolly said New Jersey would not be registering out-of-state e-bikes and that visitors should follow the law in their home states.

    But now the MVC says that because New Jersey is the only state that requires e-bikes to be registered, out-of-state e-bikers should follow New Jersey’s law.

    That means out-of-state riders need to make an appointment at the MVC when they visit, which starts by filling out a registration form.

    Connolly says as of July 28, New Jersey had issued 9,410 e-bike registrations; of those, 182 were for out-of-state residents.

    “MVC is now offering to register e-bikes for out-of-state residents so that they can lawfully ride their bikes in NJ,” Connolly said in a statement e-mailed to the Inquirer.

    ”Out-of-state visitors who are sixteen or older can also rent a low-speed e-bike from rental companies operating under a contract with a local government, which is an exception to the registration requirement under the e-bike law.”

    Properly registered e-bikes will display a sticker issued by the MVC.

    The law has caused confusion among riders, bike-shop owners, and law enforcement since its adoption in January. After a six-month grace period, the state went into enforcement mode July 19.

    The law requires all riders to wear helmets, forbids riders under the age of 15, and requires insurance for higher-speed classified electric bikes. The classification for basic e-bikes is for pedal-assisted electric bicycles with a maximum speed of 20 mph.

    Out-of-state riders without a driver’s license are not permitted to ride an e-bike in New Jersey, according to the Motor Vehicle Commission, which has been embroiled in a national controversy since it was revealed that thousands of non-U.S. citizens were automatically registered to vote while obtaining driver’s licenses in New Jersey.

    For non-New Jersey e-bikers, the process for e-bike registration will be the same as for residents, but out-of-staters can use out-of-state proof of identification and register the e-bike with an out-of-state address.

  • 🎸 Gully’s vs. Avalon Boro | Down the Shore

    🎸 Gully’s vs. Avalon Boro | Down the Shore

    “More boring by a mile?” That was the assessment of one Facebook user after Avalon shut down a live music gig at Gully’s by the band Three and One, shortly after 8 p.m. on July 17.

    Someone complained about the noise, and Avalon police arrived on Dune Drive outside Gully’s, the lively new bar and restaurant that serves a Craig LaBan-approved “clothesline of candied bacon that dangles over a tasty plate of grits.”

    There was a flurry of outrage on Facebook and at a recent council meeting, along with despair over the state of the upscale town’s vibe, echoing last year’s angst over the Union League’s purchase of the Whitebrier.

    Neighbors on 27th Street, meanwhile, tried to explain they weren’t against Gully’s — or even live music — but that the noise from the outdoor patio, either from live bands or amplified games like the Monday minnow races, were a “disruptive intrusion,” up and down the block.

    It turns out that all of Avalon’s liquor licenses contain a special condition that permits outdoor music between noon and 8 p.m. Gully’s is now appealing that restriction through the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, arguing that it’s arbitrary and capricious, and an abuse of Avalon’s discretion. The town has indicated it wants to be reasonable and figure out a solution. One council member spoke of his love for Gully’s and said, “We do appreciate your business and what you’ve done there.”

    I wrote about the Gully’s vs. Avalon controversy here.

    Have a listen to Three and One here, or check them out again this Friday at Gully’s, with a new daytime slot: 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

    📮 Do you think it’s reasonable for Avalon to limit outdoor music at bars to between noon and 8 p.m.? Or should businesses be given more leeway to thrive during the summer? How much say should people who live near commercial establishments have, especially during the summer? Let me know what you think by replying to this email, and I’ll include your most interesting responses in a future newsletter.

    Have ideas or news tips, memories or pet peeves about the Shore? Send them to me here.

    🫨 It’s been another crazy week of storms, but the weekend looks decent.

    — Amy S. Rosenberg (Follow me @amysrosenberg, on Instagram at @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me here.)

    If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

    Sign up for our text group, The Shore Line.

    Shore talk

    🔥 A fire and flooding at Ocean Casino shut down gambling operations for a day.

    💃🏼 Shakira closed out her World Cup Tour in Atlantic City.

    👑 LeBron James merch is already available down the Shore.

    🏄🏻‍♀️ Dept. of History: How surfing came to the Jersey Shore.

    ⚾ We miss Splash, the mascot. A look back at Surf Stadium.

    🚨 Wildwood Crest lifeguard’s vehicle hits beachgoer.

    🇮🇪 Derry Girls creator’s next project will be about a group of Irish girls who come to Wildwood.

    What to eat/What to do

    🎨 The 25th annual Art of Surfing is Saturday on the Ocean City boardwalk.

    🎭 Pretty Woman: The Musical is at Surflight Theatre on Long Beach Island.

    🎡 The St. Francis Festival of the Sea is on Brant Beach.

    📖 Reed’s Farm is hosting a book group Saturday morning. The book is The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston.

    👩🏻‍🍳 Why cook? Hire Instagram-famous private chef Keegan McManus. Or order delicious meal prep from Ventnor’s Chef G.

    🎥 Check out The Odyssey on the A.C. Boardwalk at Tropicana’s IMAX Theatre.

    Shore snapshot

    The band Three and One packs up at Gully’s in Avalon shortly after 8 p.m. July 17, 2026, after a noise complaint. The liquor licenses issued by Avalon to bars prohibits live music after 8 p.m., but Gully’s has appealed that restriction to the state N.J. Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. The band was scheduled to play until 10 p.m.Kate Nunan

    🧠 Trivia time

    Lots of love for the Bongo Room, which was the Avalon bar that closed 39 years ago this summer and featured the Greaseband on Sunday nights. Betsy Strittmatter was first with the answer.

    This week:

    This legendary Ventnor ice cream and water ice shop’s recipes — particularly its black cherry water ice — continue on in another location, the North Beach Creamery.

    Are the recipes originally from:

    A. Custard’s Last Stand

    B. Springer’s

    C. Willow’s Way

    D. Mento’s

    If you think you know the answer, email us here. First one gets a shout-out.

    More of your thoughts on: Sea Isle and the changing Shore

    In response to my story about changes and upscaling in Sea Isle City, Down the Shore reader Nancy Bucher came to the Shore town’s defense.

    As a retiree I find it magical to live here year round. Sea Isle truly is a City for All Seasons! Yes, people sold their quaint cottages and they are now replaced by 6 bedroom homes. But is that so bad? Large extended families get to enjoy a taste of beach life for a week or two, families get to bond, cousins get to play together and we all happily co-exist. Yes, some people have beautiful multimillion dollar homes …. but is that so bad? Our restaurants and shops stay prosperous and our town is thriving. Sure, we need more parking, but if people are honest, it is mainly in the busy summer season. We need more trees? Look around people, there are new young trees planted every year and right now the Crepe myrtles are blooming beautifully. Personally I applaud the growth and embrace the change and credit our community leaders for keeping our shoreline pristine and our beaches replenished!

    Reader Joseph Higgins brings us back down to earth.

    All of the shore towns are out pricing blue collar workers. My parents bought a trailer for $30,000 in 2000 outside of Wildwood Crest in Shawcrest. The land rental fees have climbed from $3,000 to $7,900 per year. The trailer next door is currently listed for $275,000 with land rental fees of $11,400. The working man’s shore vacation spot is quickly disappearing.

    Ask Down the Shore:

    We put the dress code question to our Shore Line text group (still time to join us here). There was a deluge of responses!

    Here’s a quick sample:

    “Down the shore everything’s alright.” Sure it’s OK to wear beach attire (not sandy though, and do brush ur hair 😉)”

    “I don’t care how much money you have. Make an effort, for the sake of the restaurant staff and other guests, to put on clean shorts and a polo for men and a cute cover up/sundress for women. If you can’t do that, then there’s always takeout.”

    “Some people, when they come to the beach, lose or abandon their sense of propriety. Decent, casual attire respects the restaurant and other diners.”

    Your Shore memory

    My sampling of Ocean City pizza triggered this memory from Susan Carlbaugh.

    As a Roxborough girl who lives in Baltimore now, reading your tribute to pizza on Ocean City’s boardwalk hit every nostalgia button possible! In my teen years, our friend ran the rides in Wonderland and that saved our cash for the rest of the night including the slice of pizza. Life was good!

    We knew it as “Mack” & Manco’s and it was always a stop on our night on the boardwalk. After waiting for my Grandma to get out of the Music Pier’s nightly performance, and before we left the ‘boards, it included a nightcap of fresh-squeezed orange juice from Litterer’s!

    Alex’s was our Roxborough home pizza shop. I can smell all of them right now. You are bringing tears to my eyes!

    Thanks Susan! You never know what will trigger a touching memory. There’s still time to send us your Shore memory, pizza or otherwise! Tell us how the Shore taps into something deep for you, and we will publish them in this space.

    By submitting your written, visual, and/or audio contributions, you agree to The Inquirer’s Terms of Use, including the grant of rights in Section 10.

  • Avalon shut down a live band at Gully’s at 8 p.m. Now the tavern is fighting restrictions on its liquor license.

    Avalon shut down a live band at Gully’s at 8 p.m. Now the tavern is fighting restrictions on its liquor license.

    AVALON, N.J. — For Three and One singer and guitarist Gus Thompson, 25, the music died on Dune Drive shortly after 8 p.m. on Friday, July 17.

    “We noticed the police out front,” the band’s front man said in a phone interview, recalling the night at Avalon’s new bar and restaurant with a patio for live music and other events. “Our set was ending very soon, so we didn’t think much of it. The owner said we’re being shut down. He said no more music.”

    The band was scheduled to play until 10 p.m., and had finished the early set with Thompson’s original song “No Idea,” but Avalon’s restrictions on Gully’s and all other bars in town prohibit any outdoor music after 8 p.m.

    Out in the crowd, Kate Nunan was incensed. At 8:36 p.m., she posted a picture of the band breaking down its setup in the Facebook Group Seven Mile Shenanigans, and wrote, “WTH is wrong with Avalon??? Shutting down a band at 8:30 because of a noise complaint??”

    The outrage has only grown, spilling over into a July 22 council meeting, with residents expressing concern that Avalon, long a place of late nights and live music, but now increasingly a place of private clubs and multimillion-dollar houses, was in danger of losing its small businesses and essential character.

    Has Avalon become too exclusive for the people who live there?

    Gully’s has appealed the special conditions of Avalon’s liquor license to the state’s Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, saying the ban on outdoor music after 8 p.m. is “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable.”

    At the council meeting, locals like Merri Jones, who said she was a second-generation graduate of Avalon Elementary, stuck up for Gully’s, which replaced the Black Cactus restaurant with a restaurant touting “old school beachy vibes.” (Inquirer restaurant critic Craig LaBan praised its “clothesline of candied bacon.“)

    The hanging candied bacon served over grits and Gully’s blooming potato on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Avalon, N.J.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    “They’re a breath of fresh air,” she told the council, which had been cautioned by Nicole Curio, the municipal solicitor, not to respond to comments about Gully’s since the liquor license restrictions were now a legal action with the state ABC, a division of the Office of the Attorney General.

    “It’s just a couple more hours to let them make their money,” she said. “We support it. A lot of locals do as well.”

    But neighbors on the 100 block of 27th Street, which has Gully’s at one end and Wawa on the other, and regularly idling 18-wheelers making deliveries to both, pleaded their case about the noise from Gully’s, including the amplified music and games like its Monday Minnow Races announced over a loudspeaker.

    Larry Hayes said he lives 450 feet from Gully’s, but the sound is causing an “unreasonable disruptive intrusion into our quiet enjoyment of our home.” The Avalon noise ordinance restricts any amplified sound that’s audible more than 50 feet away, he noted.

    The patio at Gully’s on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Avalon, N.J.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    “We want to be good neighbors,” said neighbor Matt Tumasz. “We love the idea that there’s a family restaurant. But when you have a five-piece band playing and blasting music, and speakers that are 15 feet in the air, it’s just a little bit out of control.”

    Gully’s owner Beth Pearce did not respond to several messages from The Inquirer.

    On Facebook, Pearce posted: “From the beginning, our goal has been simple: to create a place where neighbors, families, visitors, and friends can come together and make memories.

    “We have tremendous respect for the role of our local officials,” she wrote. “We remain committed to working collaboratively, being good neighbors, and contributing positively to our community.”

    At the council meeting, she noted that several council members had patronized Gully’s with their families (and one admitted to being a fan during the council meeting).

    “The hope is we’re going to elevate all businesses,” Pearce said. She pledged to try to “figure out what the appropriate sound level is.”

    The exterior of Gully’s on Wednesday, June 17, 2026, in Avalon, N.J.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer

    “I think we can find something where we can thrive together,” she said. “All we’re asking for is the same conditions as similar businesses within the district.”

    In an email, Avalon administrator Scott Wahl noted that the special conditions that permit outdoor music only between noon and 8 p.m. were adopted in June by council and apply to all seven holders of liquor licenses in Avalon, including the Union League, which took over the Whitebrier last year.

    Still, Wahl said, “I believe the Borough Council will attempt to revisit the issue to balance the interests of the business community and the residential community.

    “I think it’s fair to say both sides want to figure this out collaboratively,” he said.

    Three and One will be back at Gully’s this Friday. Thompson said the owners initially assured them the usual 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. gig would be fine but have since asked them to play from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.