Still, after "the fall", some of my first and fondest memories are from playing at Palace Amusements before it shuttered in the 1990's. By the time I was in high school, the commercial districts could feel like a ghost town but it was the place for us suburban kids to to get into trouble. My first concerts were at Convention Hall and Stone Pony. I was IN LOVE with Asbury Park and all of its beauty and contradictions. It was as romantic as NYC was, just opposite directions on the Northeast Coast Line.

So this is one of the school projects that taught me how to use a darkroom and take reporter notes. The prints have been drying and curling in storage bins. Most were lost. The ones that survived are happy to see some light of day! Don't forget about your old stuff.

The Kingsley Deli survived "the fall" of the City of Asbury Park. It couldn't survive the rise of it. And was taken by eminent domain in 2009.